Connections
by Rayday
Summary: The Cullen's are surprised to find out that Bella comes to Forks already knowing about the world of vampires. Not only that, but there is a deep connection to their kind. Will they be able to keep Bella safe when nomads put her into even more danger?
1. Chapter 1

Description: The Cullen's are surprised to find out that Bella comes to Forks already knowing about the world of vampires. Not only that, but there is a deep connection to their kind. Will they be able to keep Bella safe when nomads put her into even more danger?

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 1**

**(Bella's POV)**

It was the weekend before Christmas and I was so glad that my stepdad, Phil, had been able to come home early. It took a bit work to arrange it, but he really wanted to surprise my Mom by showing up a couple of days earlier then she was expecting. Wanting to give them an early Christmas gift by letting them have the weekend alone I decided to go over to Thomas's house, like I usually did when my Mom went out of town to visit Phil.

You see, Phil is a minor league baseball player. It keeps him on the road a lot, something that has always made my mother very sad. It wasn't that she didn't want him to have a chance to get on a team; it's just the fact that she misses him terribly when he is gone. I knew that the only thing that kept her from going out of town with him was her need to stay home with me.

A few months ago, I talked her into letting me stay over at Thomas's house on as many weekends as possible so that she would have the chance to see Phil a little more frequently. I knew that this time with Phil meant a lot to her, but what I had hoped would help her out of her depression only ended up making it worse. Even five days apart seemed to be too much for her to be able to not feel so lonely for Phil. This was one of the main reasons why I made the decision to go move in with my dad up in Forks, Washington.

Although my moving in with my dad gave my mom the ability to travel with Phil on a full-time basis, it wasn't the only reason why I wanted to do this. My moving to Forks would also give Thomas the excuse he needed to move away from the Arizona sun; something that he couldn't go out in. That is at least something that he couldn't do without getting too much attention.

Thomas was, without a doubt, one of my favorite people in this world, and though everyone else believed he was just my adopted uncle, I knew just how special he was. Most people knew him as the teenager my Grandmother adopted a few years before she passed away who then came to live with us until he was a legal adult.

I loved my weekends with Thomas; we were so much alike. We would spend our time either reading books – mainly the classics but every once in a while we would branch out on the genre – or storytelling. Without a doubt, one of my most favorite things to do was to hear Thomas tell me stories about our family. He was such a good story teller and I didn't even care if I was classified as being too old to enjoy a good story.

Since it was Sunday night, we were on our way back to my house. But for some reason the closer we got to my house the more agitated Thomas seemed to be getting. By the time we reached my driveway he quickly stopped the car and pulled out his cell phone. "Bella stay in the car and call 911. I'll be right back." With those words he ran into the already open front door.

I soon as I saw that opened front door I could feel fear and dread wash over me. It took all of my concentration to try and dial the phone, but before I could even press send on the phone, Thomas was back and taking the phone out of my hand. Taking my hand in his, he pressed send and waited for the other line to answer. I could just tell by the look on his face that whatever had happened, it was really bad news.

Thomas sensed my growing panic and let go of my hand so that he could start rubbing my cheek in a way to try to soothe my anxiety. It felt like a lifetime before someone answered the phone, but as soon as someone answered, Thomas started to confirm my worst nightmares were now my reality.

"Yes. I need you to send the police right away. I just got to my sister's home to find the door forced open and both my sister and her husband are dead in the living room." I just couldn't believe what he was saying. I had a feeling that there was more that he wasn't saying. Whether it was to protect me or to not say too much to the operator, I wasn't sure.

As I heard him give the operator my address, I could feel myself start to lose it; I was shaking and I could feel the sobs start to make their way out. By the time he was hanging up the phone I was unable to hold it in anymore. I started sobbing, I could feel the hot tears leave my eyes and run quickly down my face.

The next thing I knew Thomas was suddenly opening my car door and pulling me into a tender embrace, rubbing my back very gently. "Shhh, Bella, please don't cry, sweetheart. I know it's not enough, but I'm here for you. I will help you get through this. You know that, don't you?" I couldn't speak so I just.

Within minutes, I could hear sirens making their way to my house and a new feeling of panic started to creep into me. I couldn't take the time to try and figure it out right now, but I knew something was going to break me down even more.

When the cops got out of their squad car, they quickly made their way into the house to confirm what they had heard on the radio. As they came back out I could see one of the officers look in our direction. He said something to the other officer and started to make his way towards us. I really didn't want to talk and I was hoping that it would be okay for Thomas to do all of the talking.

"My name is Officer Lindell. May I ask which of you called 911?" Officer Lindell seemed like a man probably around my dad's age. He was not much taller than me, but seemed solidly built; a definite candidate as a good bouncer to any dance club in the area.

"I called 911," Thomas said very quietly. "I was bringing my niece home and noticed the door wide open when we pulled into the driveway. I made Bella stay in the car while I went inside real quick to see what was going on. That is when I found Renee and Phil." Thomas's voice got choked up then and it took him a minute to keep going. "That is when I ran back out here and called 911 on my cell phone."

Officer Lindell looked at both of us with compassionate eyes and asked his first question. "So, this is where you live Miss?" He looked at me waiting to answer but all I could do was nod. "When was the last time you were at home?"

It took me a few more minutes to get my crying under control enough to speak but I finally found my voice. "Thomas picked me up late Friday evening, so that I could stay with him for the weekend." I started.

Thomas continued on with the story, "Bella's mom is usually out of town on the weekends to visit her husband who is always on the road. The normal plan is that Bella comes and stays with me on the weekends."

Officer Lindell continued on with his questions so that he could continue on getting the full story. "And even though your mom and stepdad were in town this weekend you decided to still stay over at your.." His voice started to trail off.

"My uncle's home…Yes sir. I thought that I would give them a quiet weekend at home." I looked over at my home and could feel tears start back up again. "Maybe it would have been better if I had been home; maybe I could have done something to stop this."

Thomas quickly took hold of my face,forcing me to look at him. "Bella, don't ever think that. If you had been home I would have lost more than just Renee; I would have lost you, too. I don't know if I could have handled that." He quickly took me into his arms and hugged me tightly.

"Miss, you said that this was your mother and stepfather's home, is your dad around?"

The mention of my dad started a new wave of tears and I couldn't find the strength to say anything. Finally Thomas answered the question for me. "Her dad is the Chief of Police up in Forks, Washington." From the feel of Thomas's chin on the top of my head I could tell he was trying to look down at me. "Bella, would you like me to call your dad and explain what has happened."

"I don't know. I feel as though I should be the one to call him." I started crying even harder. "He is going to take this so hard. You know he has never stopped loving her, even after all these years. How can I do this to him?" I couldn't imagine the pain this was going to cause and I could feel the dread getting even worse.

Thomas then took his cell phone out of his pocket, found Charlie's phone number in his directory and passed the phone over to me. It only took a few rings before I heard my dad's voice answer, "Hello?"

"Dad!" Was the only word I was able to get out for a while and even that one word came out choked.

"Bella is that you, what's wrong? Are you okay?" My dad's panicked voice came over the phone.

After several deep breaths I finally found my voice again. "Dad. It's so bad; I don't want to have to tell you this."

"Bells, you can tell me anything. Please tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt." I took a deep breath, "Phil was able to come home this weekend as a special surprise to Mom. To allow them a quiet weekend at home, I went over to Thomas's house like I usually do. When he brought me home tonight," I let out another sob before I could get out, "Dad we got home to find the door kicked in and Mom and Phil murdered."

I could hear my dad's breath catch at the news, I could only imagine what he was feeling. "I'm so sorry, Dad."

My dad cut me off, "Bells stop. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."

"I know," I cried, "But I can't help it. I feel like I need to apologize."

Just then Officer Lindell got my attention, only half listening to my dad, I listened to what the officer had to say. "Miss if you would like I can talk to him. It may be easier for me to answer any questions he may have."

I nodded my head. "Dad, would you mind talking to the police officer? You probably have questions and I think he may be able to give you more answers then I could."

I could hear tears in my Dad's voice. "That's probably a good idea Bells. Don't worry about anything, I will find a way down there to be with you as soon as possible."

"I know Dad, I love you." It was a rare thing to actually say to my dad, but I really needed to say those words to him right now.

"I love you too honey," he said and I handed the phone to Officer Lindell.

When Officer Lindell took the phone and walked over to his squad car, Thomas turned me around to face him. "Bella, honey, what do you need from me?"

"I just need you by my side." I kept taking deep breaths in hopes that this would help me get control. "You'll still move up to Washington won't you?" I asked.

"Yes, honey, there is nothing else now holding me to Arizona. You know the only reason I even lived here was because it was where you and your mom were located. It may take some time, though, before that can happen, I will stay down here to help handle the estate, but I will try my hardest to get to you as soon as possible."

I nodded my head. I knew he would do whatever he had to so that we could still be close together. I was the only family he had left and I wasn't going to abandon him, especially now.

A moment later Officer Lindell came back over, I could tell that he was still on the phone. He handed me the phone. "Your dad would like to talk to you again, if that's okay."

I put the phone back to my ear, "Hi, Dad."

In the background I could hear someone talking to Charlie. "Bella, can you hold on a second?"

"Sure."

I couldn't hear who or what Charlie was talking about but within a couple of minutes he was back on the phone. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen, I truly appreciate this. Bells, sorry about that."

"That's okay Dad, where are you?"

"I'm actually down at the hospital here in Forks right now for some Police business and was talking to Dr. Cullen when your phone call came through. While talking to Officer Lindell, Dr. Cullen overheard what had happened and instantly got on his computer to try and help me find the next flight out of here so I can get down to you." He answered one more question that Dr. Cullen must have asked him before continuing, "It appears that I can catch a flight out of here at midnight. Is that okay with you?"

"That would be great Dad. Would you mind if I told Dr. Cullen thank you?"

"Not at all honey, just a minute. Let me put him on for you."

I could hear Charlie talking to somebody and a moment later I could hear a very nice male voice come over the line. "Hello."

"Dr. Cullen, my dad said that you were helping him find a way to Arizona. I just wanted to thank you so much for your kindness." My voice broke a little bit but I forced myself on. "I appreciate this more than you will ever know and I know my dad appreciates it also."

Before I could say anything else, I could hear Dr. Cullen saying, "It is no trouble at all, I just wish I could be helping out for happier circumstances. I'm very sorry about what has happened. I will make sure your father has my phone number. If there is anything at all that you or your father need, please feel free to let myself or my wife, Esme, know and we would be more than happy to help."

With his kindness I could feel my resolve start to break once again. "Your kindness means a lot to me, thank you again."

"You're welcome Bella."

I could hear him give the phone back to my Dad. "Bells, Dr. Cullen is going to follow me home so that I can quickly pack. He will then be driving me to the airport. I will probably call you or Thomas when my plane gets in. I'm assuming you will be with Thomas?"

I looked at Thomas and he nodded saying, "Feel free to invite your Dad to stay with us also."

I answered my Dad, "Yes I will be going back to Thomas's. He wanted me to let you know that he has more than enough room if you wanted to stay with him also. That way we can be close to each other."

It took a second for Charlie to get back on the phone, "That sounds like a good plan. Thank Thomas for me and I will call when my flight gets in so that I can get directions to his home. I'll see you as soon as possible Bells. I love you."

"I love you too Dad. Bye"

"Bye."

**(Carlisle – POV)**

Today had been a very upsetting day to say the least. The fact that I was a doctor, able to treat the sick and injured didn't really help out when somebody you respect gets hurt emotionally. Days like this, when something is clearly out of my control always leave me with a feeling of helplessness.

As soon as I walked into the door, I could feel Jasper sending me a strong sense of calm. I looked at him with a small smile, "Thank you, son. You have no idea how much that helps." If only he could send this calmness out to Chief Swan right now, he could definitely use it.

"Why are you feeling so bad for Chief Swan? Did something happen to him?" My son, Edward, asked after he heard my thoughts.

It appeared that most of my family stopped whatever they were doing so that they could hear the answer to his question. I figured that I should at least mention this to them, so I went and sat next to Esme. She could always calm me by just the slightest touch. "While I was at work today I ran into Chief Swan. He was at the hospital so that he could take down some interviews regarding an accident that had occurred this afternoon. After he was done I invited him into my office so that we could talk for a little while. I could tell by looking at him that he seemed happier then I had ever seen him. Eventually he told me that his daughter called him earlier this week to ask him if she could move in with him." I grinned as I remember this happier part of our time together, "He was so excited, it doesn't sound like they have ever spent more than a week or two together every year since she was a baby."

"Well that's great, Carlisle, but I don't understand why that would cause you to feel so bad for Chief Swan." Emmett said.

"Well it's what happened a few minutes later that has me feeling bad for Chief Swan. You see it was only a few minutes later that his daughter, Bella, called him."

But before I could continue on, I was being interrupted again by Emmett, "What? She decided to change her mind about moving up here?"

"No, that's not it. You see I could tell right away that she was clearly distraught about something, sobbing for several minutes before she could finally tell Charlie the news."

"Carlisle honey, what news did she have to give him?" Esme said as she put her arm around my back.

"Apparently her stepdad, Phil, is a minor league baseball player who is on the road all of the time. On weekends Bella stays with her mom's adopted brother, Thomas, so that Renee can go be with him. Apparently Phil was able to come home early for Christmas and as a way to give them a quiet night alone, Bella went over to Thomas's house. When Bella got home this evening, she and Thomas found her mom and stepdad murdered." I could hear my wife give a small gasp at what I said; she was so caring. I knew her heart went out to both Chief Swan and Bella. "It sounds like the cops are classifying the murders as the result of a home invasion. The most disturbing thing is that while they killed Phil right away evidence shows that Renee was probably tortured for several hours before they finally killed her."

Just then Alice spoke up, "Actually, Carlisle, there is a lot more to the story then what the Police know about."

I looked at Alice, surprised by her insinuation about what happened. She must have seen something in her visions, which is a bit odd considering that she didn't usually have visions about humans. "What do you mean, Alice, did you see something?"

"Yes, I did. Though I didn't understand who anybody was or even why I was seeing it until now. To be completely honest, I couldn't even hear what was being said in my vision." At this I heard Edward gasp; apparently he now knew what Alice's vision was and it did not appear that I would like the story.

"Please tell us, Alice." Esme begged.

"I had a vision last night while I was hunting. In this vision three nomadic vampires were making their way through the Phoenix area. Finally they came upon the house that they must have been looking for. When they got inside they surprised a couple just clearing the table after dinner. The redheaded vampire made quick work at killing the man; once he was dead she threw his dead body against the wall. They then circled the woman, who seemed scared but at the same time resigned about something.

"The strangest thing was that though I couldn't hear anything going on in this vision, I could tell that they were pumping her for information."

"Why would you say that?" Jasper asked curiously. He looked just as confused as the rest of us, as to why these vampires would be trying to interrogate a human.

"It was in their actions, Jazz. Who I would classify as the leader of the coven would get right in the woman's face and say something, probably asking a question due to the reaction the human would give." When I nodded for Alice to go on with what she saw, she continued, "It looked as though some of the things he would say would trigger a flash of understanding, but after each thing the leader said I could clearly see that she would respond with a very firm no.

"Each time she would answer in the negative, he would get angry and would break another bone. It looked like this went on for hours, him asking her something, she refusing to say anything to him and then him breaking another bone. The sickest part was that I think he was enjoying himself too much, like a person finally getting revenge."

That last part bothered me. "What on earth would a vampire need revenge against a human for?"

"I'm not sure, Carlisle, I don't even know if I'm correct in my opinion, but that's what it seemed like." Alice shuddered. "Finally he got so angry that instead of breaking her collarbone he actually broke her neck."

I stopped her at this point to ask a question, "Did you see any clues that may have told you what they wanted?" I couldn't make sense of any of this.

"No, just from what I saw they were clearly determined to get something out of her. I'm assuming that it must have been Chief Swan's ex-wife, due to your description of what happened to her and her husband."

Jasper cut in then, "Do you see them taking any interest in the Chief or his daughter?"

"I really don't know. I'm feeling a bit helpless at the moment; when I had the vision last night, all I know is that a sudden surge of hatred came over me. I wanted nothing more than to protect this woman. The need to protect her came over me so strongly I couldn't make sense of it. It was the same kind of feeling I would have if I found out any of you were in danger."

"Is this why I have felt such a wide range of emotions coming from you Alice?" Jasper asked her pulling her into his arms.

"It could be; a part of me feels as though I have lost a family member, I can't explain it. Maybe it is due to the vision I had, it really was truly awful." She looked at me and then asked, "How was Chief Swan when he heard the news?"

"Chief Swan was beside himself. I don't think he ever stopped loving his ex-wife, even after all these years. He was also very worried about his daughter. Since I overheard the phone conversation, I started making travel arrangements for him, but had to get him to tell me what was going on so he wouldn't be suspicious about how I knew he needed to leave town. Once the travel arrangements were made, I talked him into allowing me to follow him home so that I could then drive him immediately to the airport for his flight."

Edward then turned to Alice. "Alice under the circumstances I think it would be a good idea to keep a look out for the location of these nomads."

Alice nodded. "I agree. The way they looked, I can imagine that if they didn't get the information they wanted out of Chief Swan's ex-wife. They may think that her daughter may know something."

I looked at my family one by one. "Will everyone please keep a look out for Chief Swan and Bella? I have a feeling they may be in need of protection. I also worry about Bella's emotional well-being. From the description Charlie provided me with on the way to the airport, Bella was the one who always took care of her mom instead of the other way around. When she was talking to him on the phone, it seemed like she was blaming herself for not being there when this happened. She even tried apologizing to her Dad."

"That poor girl, do you know whether or not she is for sure moving in with her Dad? Under the circumstances could she decide to stay with her uncle?" Esme asked me.

"I believe the plan is that she will still move in with Charlie. It also sounds like her uncle had already looked into moving up to Washington also. He apparently has some health issues that force him to stay inside a lot." Looking around at my family I could tell that they would comply with my request regardless of what their feelings may be about this.

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I hope you will take the time to let me know what you think of this story w/ a Review... Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

I would like to take the time to thank the Betas from Project Team Beta (ColdComfort4 and Dinx) who helped me fix all of my issues with this chapter...Believe me there were quite a few, and I was so thankful for their help.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 2**

**(Bella's POV)**

It felt like it was the last day of the rest of my life, instead of the normal first day of the rest of my life…God, I was even confusing myself with this nonsense. There I was, starting my first day of Forks High School, and all I could think about at the moment was running as fast and as far as I could. This must have meant that I was quite desperate, considering the fact that I was a danger on two feet.

I knew that I had no right to feel this way, especially since I had already made the decision to move in with my dad before everything happened. But somehow, knowing that I no longer had a choice in where I lived just made it that much more frustrating. I think knowing that at any time I could've changed my mind and moved back to Arizona made the thought a little easier, even though I never would.

Charlie was great. He was always respectful of my privacy, which helped greatly, but it seemed sad at the same time. If Renee had still been around, she would have been hounding me for information. Instead, the only other person that I had in my life that I could turn to was Thomas. Though, that was definitely not a bad thing. He knew absolutely everything about me and I, in turn, knew most everything about him.

I was definitely not someone who liked to talk about themselves, and since most of what I knew about Thomas had to remain a secret, I had only so much to talk about with others. My biggest goal in life, when it came to other people, was to try and turn all of the attention away from myself and hoped that it fell on someone else. This was something that seemed downright impossible at times, considering how utterly and completely accident prone I was. My life just seemed to scream: _watch the freak show to your left while she attempts to walk on a flat surface while remaining erect._

Knowing that I was living in such a small town and my dad was also the Chief of Police, everyone would have heard about me moving here, in addition to what had happened to my mom and Phil.

I slowly got myself ready for school, choosing an outfit that I hoped would allow me to blend in to the background. I went with my classic skinny jeans, plain fitted top and the warmest hoodie I owned. I had never been one that cared too much about how I was dressed, my only thought had always been about comfort; something that had always annoyed Renee. She would shake her head and mumble something about being too much like Charlie; something I never considered to be the putdown she always intended it to be.

After getting a bite to eat, I made my way to my new school. As soon as I introduced myself to the lady working in the office, all of my worries were confirmed. I was most definitely a topic of interest in this little town. One minute she would look at me with extreme interest and the next she would give me her best look of pity.

For most of the morning I didn't pay much attention to the people around me, I just tried the best that I could to stay as unnoticed as possible. It was during my walk, in between classes that I was suddenly caught by surprise. There I was, walking to my Trigonometry class, when I found myself walking past a very pale, very beautiful guy with honey-colored hair. Although I felt a definite shock of happiness at the possibilities of what I had just seen, I kept walking.

Could it be? Had I really seen what I thought I just saw? Were there really vampires attending Forks High School? His features definitely screamed vampire to me, especially the golden eye color, just like Thomas's.

Realizing that the entire school had lunch at the same time, I figured I would have the chance to see him again. I hoped that maybe there were more of them. I had always felt more comfortable around vampires, or to be precise, I had always been comfortable around vampires I knew to have a more humanitarian way of eating – strictly animal blood.

When it was time for lunch, I ended up walking to the cafeteria alongside a girl who had been in both my Spanish and Trigonometry classes. She seemed overly excited to be seen with me. She was probably hoping that by sitting next to the new girl, she'd be more popular. I knew that I was already been a hot topic of conversation. Add to that the recent murders of my mom and stepfather and I was surprised they didn't hang me up on the wall for display.

Not a single hour of the school day had not gone by without the incessant stares and whispers about the 'new girl'. If I was being honest with myself, I would have said that the only thing that kept me sane so far was the idea that there could actually be a vampire in school. If I found evidence to disprove my theory during lunch, I decided I would have to make excuses and leave early.

As soon as Jessica walked me over to her usual table with some of her friends, I started scanning the cafeteria. Across the room from me, I noticed the blond-haired boy from earlier. He lovingly had his arms around a pretty black-haired pixie of a girl. Next to them was another gorgeous couple, the girl was a beautiful blonde who undoubtedly put any super model to shame and was clearly with the massively large guy who had big dimples and curly, brown hair.

For some reason, both the pixie and the big guy looked familiar to me. I felt like a part of me should know them somehow, or that I had seen them before. I really doubted that I had ever met them, or that they even knew who Thomas was. If he knew of others like him living in the same town as my dad, I'm sure he would have said something.

I pulled out my cell phone and, as discreetly as possible, texted a message to Thomas.

_Hi. _

_There seems to be 5 golden eyes going to my school._

_Did you know anything about this?_

_B_

It was only a minute later that I got a reply.

_B,_

_Are you sure about that?_

_I had no idea…Pls be safe!_

_Call me as soon as you get home from school._

_T_

I sent him a reply letting him know that I would call him as soon as I was home and when I looked up, that was when my eyes finally rested on the last person sitting at their table. Just the sight of him made my heartbeat pick up to a point of feeling like I was running. This boy was the most beautiful, most God-like creature I had ever seen. His bronze-colored hair was like none other I had ever seen before. Even though he appeared to be the smallest out of the males at that table, you could still see the strength he held in his body.

My biggest question was what this coven would do to me if they knew what I knew about their world. I was sure they would be very upset, maybe even kill me, given the fact that humans weren't supposed to know the secret. Trying to take Thomas' request at being careful to heart, I decided that I would try and pretend that I knew nothing of their kind. Until I knew more about them it was the only safe choice to go with.

I figured I would play the curious new girl and ask about the beautiful group. I turned to Jessica. "Who are those people across the room?"

It appeared that Jessica didn't even have to look at me to know which table I was talking about. She gave me a smirk I took as her way of saying I would be of no interest to these people, that I shouldn't even get my hopes up at approaching the subject, but she answered me anyway.

From the looks on their faces, I figured they wouldn't be listening to the mundane conversations going on. So I was very surprised when I saw the beautiful bronze-haired boy turn his head in our direction just seconds before Jessica spoke. "They're the Cullen family."

Cullen. I knew that name. That – was the name of that doctor I spoke to on the phone. "Are they by chance related to Dr. Carlisle Cullen?" My mention of his name caused a confused look to come across that bronze-haired boy's face. I could tell I had his full attention then. He was probably wondering what I was going to say.

"Yes, they are. They are Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen's adopted and foster children." I could tell that my knowing the name made Jessica equally as curious as the boy across the cafeteria. "Do you know Dr. Cullen?" she asked.

Unfortunately, the subject of how I knew the name brought up a very painful subject. I blinked away the tears that were quickly forming in my eyes and answered. "Actually, I spoke to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago." Trying to keep myself from crying once again, I took several deep breaths before continuing. "He was with my dad when I had to call and let him know about my mom."

At the mention of my mom, the tears I fought so hard to keep inside fell from my eyes. I turned my head and looked into the compassionate eyes of a girl I had met in an earlier class. Angela gave me a small smile and whispered in my ear. "Would you like a quiet minute alone?" When I nodded at her she continued, "Why don't you come with me? I will show you to your next class. It's early enough that you will have a little bit of time to yourself before class begins."

I was so unbelievably thankful for Angela's kindness. So far, she had been the only person I had met who gave me a sense of wanting to truly be my friend. I got no indication that she was feigning her kindness in the hopes that becoming friends would somehow make her more popular, like it seemed Jessica was doing. I had a feeling that Angela and I could truly be friends.

We both seemed to be easily shy, just wanting to go through the day unnoticed. If I could've guessed I would've assumed that she also hated being the center of attention.

I got up and started walking slowly across the cafeteria with Angela. After I told her my next class was Biology, two things happened simultaneously. I tripped over my own two feet, almost falling to the ground right in front of the Cullen's table, at the same exact time that the dark-haired girl clamped her hands down on top of the bronze-haired boy's shoulders. I looked into his eyes and instantly knew what the problem was when I saw his golden eyes switch to pitch black. He was thirsty, and my little trip was causing this beautiful boy to be pushed right over the edge.

Without even thinking, something I kicked myself over later, I looked at the pixie looking one and whispered as quietly as possible so that Angela, who was only a couple of steps in front of me, hopefully wouldn't be able to hear. I just hoped that my voice could be heard over my frantically beating heart, because at the moment I wasn't sure that was even possible. "Please, don't just sit there. You need to get him out of here now!" I could see the look of shock on the Cullens faces when I continued. "Go, take him hunting so he can relieve the obvious pain he's in right now."

I looked at the beautiful bronze-haired boy feeling completely awful that I was causing him pain. Between the fact that he seemed to be almost vibrating from the restraint he was having to put forth to not attack. And the absolute look of murder on his face. I just couldn't help feeling guilty about causing this.

"I am so very sorry. If it was my scent that triggered this, if I am the one, please have one of your family members let me know and I will try to avoid all contact with you. The last thing I want to do is cause you undue pain."

Everyone at the table was clearly astonished, but I could also see suspicion in the eyes of the blonde girl. The only person that seemed to be happy with my comments was the pixie, who gave me the most amazing smile and whispered, "Thank you."

"No problem," I whispered back, only then realizing what I had just revealed to them. _Oh crap!_

Angela showed me where our next class was, allowing me some quiet time before our Biology class began. I didn't know how I should be feeling. I was no longer feeling the ache of loss over my mom that I had been feeling when I first started to leave the cafeteria. Now I was worried over what the Cullen family may do to me since they were now obviously aware that I knew their little secret. I was also feeling guilty regarding the obvious pain I put that Cullen boy in just moments ago.

I had seen Thomas struggle a couple of times with his thirst, but I had never seen the extent of pain I witnessed on that boy's face. The amount of control it took for him not to lunge at me was mind blowing, but maybe I was reading more into it than was actually there. I hoped that his pain wasn't that severe. If I really was the cause, no amount of apologies could ever make up for putting him through that.

My Biology teacher, Mr. Banner, said that the only seat left available was located next to Edward Cullen. I wasn't sure which one of the Cullen males that was, but I had a suspicion that it was the bronze-haired one. At least, that's typically how my luck panned out.

Biology class was simple enough; it appeared as though everything we would be studying I had already done in my previous school. That made it like a couple of my other classes: extremely boring.

When class was over, a nice, baby-faced boy named Mike Newton introduced himself to me. When he found out my next class was gym, he decided to show me the way since he had it too.

Gym was easy enough, and that was only because the teacher, Coach Clapp, didn't make me dress up and participate, quickly making him my favorite teacher of the day. However, I knew that fact would be quite different come the next day, when I finally had to participate.

I headed to the office after school ended so that I could turn in the paperwork I had to have signed by all of my teachers, then continued on to my truck. Once I got closer to my truck, I noticed two people standing next to it. I knew right away they both were part of the Cullen family.

The more noticeable of the two was the guy. He was huge. If I could guess, I would say that he was over six and a half feet tall and had more muscles than I had ever seen in my life. By most standards, I would consider him to be a very scary person but one look at his face kept that fear from forming. He had a huge grin and dark, curly hair that made me think of a loving big brother, instead of the terrifying creature I knew he could be capable of being.

The girl with him was the same one who had kept me from getting attacked during lunch. She seemed to have so much energy that it caused her to almost bounce incessantly.

One look at both of them and I felt like I had always known them, and somehow I had a feeling my life was about to change for the better by knowing them. However, I might have just been overly optimistic in that feeling, only time would tell how this would all play out.

"Hi, Bella!I'm Alice Cullen and this big guy here is my brother, Emmett," the little pixie said. "Would you have time so that we can talk?"

"Of course we can. First, though, can you tell me, how is your brother?" I quickly asked.

Emmett seemed clearly surprised by my obvious worry over his brother. "Oh, don't worry about Edward, he'll be okay." It felt like he was trying to make light of it, maybe wondering if I really knew their secret.

"So that was Edward?" I asked, biting my bottom lip as my suspicion from earlier was confirmed. When Alice nodded I continued. "Well, since he obviously left school during lunch, he probably isn't aware yet that I am supposed to sit right next to him in Biology class." That comment caused Emmett's eyes to bulge. "If he wants me to, I can try to work with the office to get transferred into a different class."

"Why would you do that? I would think if anyone needs to rearrange their schedule it should be, Edward." Emmett asked, sounding a bit dumbfounded.

"Well, it's simply, because I don't want to be the cause of anyone's discomfort and if I can keep that from happening, I will. Plus in all fairness, Edward, was in the class first. It only makes sense that I should be the one to transfer."

Alice gave me a big grin. "There is no need for you to transfer classes." She tapped her temple. "I know for a fact that he will be able to handle it perfectly fine, with practice." The way she said that made me believe she truly knew that to be the truth.

"Do you have time to go someplace and talk this afternoon?" she asked, bringing up her original question.

"Well, I guess I do, but would you mind coming over to my house for this talk?" I could tell Alice was not surprised at all by this invitation, but Emmett definitely was. "This way we can have some privacy, but it will also give me a chance to get supper started for Charlie."

"That would be perfect." Alice beamed, "We will meet you at your house in let's say twenty minutes?" When I nodded they turned around and started heading in the opposite direction. I wasn't sure which car was theirs, but I also knew that they didn't need a car to get any place in a hurry.

By the time I got to my house, I could see Alice and Emmett walking out of the woods. At the same time, I saw a black Mercedes pulling up.

Alice made her way to me. "Bella, I hope you don't mind, but our Dad was hoping to talk to you, as well."

It was then that I saw a very beautiful blond man step out of the car. He was better looking than any actor you would ever see in the movies. I was sure that if this was Dr. Cullen, most of the female staff at the hospital probably had a lot of difficulty keeping their minds on their job when he was around.

"I'm assuming that you must be Dr. Cullen," I said as I walked up to him so that I could shake his hand. When he nodded his confirmation I went on. "Please allow me to thank you in person for your help a couple of weeks ago. You have no idea how much your kindness in helping Charlie get down to me so quickly meant to the both of us." At that last comment my voice broke as I tried to keep the tears from coming once again.

Carlisle gives me a friendly smile, "Please call me Carlisle. There is absolutely no need for you to thank me, Bella. I was just thankful that I was able to help facilitate your Dad's traveling so that he could be with you." He gave me a sad look before continuing. "I am very sorry for your loss."

Blinking away more tears that threatened to fall, I led them into the house. "I know our kitchen is small but would you mind if we spoke in there? I need to make sure that supper is ready when Charlie, gets home. I hope you don't mind if I take care of that while we talk."

"Of course," Carlisle said. "Whatever you would be more comfortable with would be fine by us."

They gave me a couple of minutes to get out the ingredients so that I could make chili. Finally, after I started putting the ingredients together, I brought up the subject I knew we were all there to discuss. "So, you're all probably wondering how I know what you are." That comment caused both men to freeze for a second. I figured they were concerned about what I would do with this information so I tried to ease their tension. "I won't tell anybody about you, or at least I should say I wouldn't mention you to any other human. I give you my word."

"May I ask what you think we are and why you think that?" Carlisle asked.

"As soon as I walked into the cafeteria today, I knew that you all were what I have always classified as humanitarian vampires." When none of them said anything, I forged ahead. "To me, the definite giveaway was the golden-colored eyes. I could tell that your brother was overly tempted by my scent due to his eyes instantaneously changing to pitch black."

"Dude, you seriously noticed the eye color change?" Emmett was clearly surprised by my observation.

Since I had finished putting together the ingredients for the chili I walked over to the table, where I could sit in the only vacant seat available next to Alice. The normal chore of cooking dinner was enough to help ease any remaining nerves I had been feeling since lunch this afternoon.

"Yes, I did notice the eye change, but I've seen it before. You have to understand something. I have been around one of your kind all of my life." By the looks on their faces, they were having difficulty believing me. "I'm the only human left in my family who knows the secret of your kind. My mom was the only other family member who knew about vampires, and she's gone now."

I saw a look pass amongst the three of them and wondered what they were thinking. Finally, Carlisle began to speak. "Since you know about our kind, are you aware that the death of your mother and stepfather were at the hands of vampires?"

I was quite shocked by their knowledge of this. "How did you know that my mom and Phil were killed by vampires?" I was starting to get nervous. Were they somehow involved?

Alice looked at me with a kind smile. "Bella, have you ever been around a vampire who has a special gift?" When I nodded that I had, she continued. "You see, I have the ability to see visions from the future and I saw a vision of a woman and her husband being brutally killed by three nomadic vampires."

I was stunned by her revelation, to think someone had seen it. "You saw what happened to them?"

"Yes, I did. Though at the time, I couldn't make sense out of any of it. I didn't know who the humans or vampires were that I was seeing. It wasn't until Carlisle got home the next day and explained what happened to Chief Swan's ex-wife and her new husband that I was able to put it all together." Somehow Alice just seemed so sad when she talked about this. It was as though she knew my mom. "If I had known enough in advance, you have to know that I would have tried to stop it."

I was so touched by her sincerity that tears started to form again. "Thank you for that. You all truly seem to be very kind."

Emmett seemed to think my comments funny. "You say that even knowing that one of us was so tempted by your scent that you yourself could have been accidentally killed?" I could tell he was thinking that I was completely insane.

"I do believe that, very much. I also saw in Edward's face his revulsion at what he was feeling and that if it wasn't an instinctual reaction to my scent, he would never have even dreamt about doing anything remotely close to that."

"That is very true," Carlisle said. "May I ask how it is you know about our world?" When he saw me get nervous, he tried putting me at ease. "Whatever you say to our family will remain within our family. We won't break our confidences with you."

I could tell that he was being completely honest with me, which helped me greatly. "Thomas."

By the look on Carlisle's face I could tell he wasn't expecting that answer. "Your Dad said that Thomas is your mom's adopted brother."

"Yes, that's what he believes, but he never met Thomas until two weeks ago when he came down to Phoenix." I knew that this is where I was going to have to confess my real relationship. "Only the members of my mom's side of the family have ever known the true identity of Thomas."

"Bella, is he a blood relation?" Carlisle seemed very interested by this.

"Yes. He is my Great-Great Grandfather."

"Whoa!" was all Emmett could say.

I went and stirred the chili currently cooking on the stove while they took in what I had just told them. By the time I was done, Carlisle was ready to ask me another question. "Is Thomas still in Phoenix?"

"For the time being he is. He plans on handling the sale of my mother's house for me, and once that's taken care of he plans on moving to Port Angeles." I hoped the house would sell quickly so that it would allow him to move there soon. "Charlie knows that he is moving, he just believes it's more for his health."

Emmett seemed confused. "Why would a human need to move to a rainy place for their health. Don't most people with bad health move to warmer climates?"

"That would normally be true, Emmett, but there are some instances that would suggest that a human not live in a sunny location." Carlisle responded.

I looked at Emmett when I started to explain Thomas's cover story. "You see, Emmett, everybody believes that Thomas has an allergy to the sun. This allowed him a good reason for why he couldn't come outside during daylight hours."

"Wouldn't that be difficult for Thomas? I know I can hardly stand being in a location that we can't freely be outside." Emmett had no idea just how difficult it was on Thomas; it was something that always made me feel guilty.

"Yes, you are correct. It was very difficult for Thomas but he refused to be away from his only living family." I sadly looked at my hands. "That is just another factor I took into consideration when I originally made the decision to move up to Forks to live with my dad. I knew that if I moved up here it would give him enough incentive to move as well. He has sacrificed a lot for my mom and me over the years, it's the least I could do to allow him more time outside."

Carlisle smiled. "That was very thoughtful of you. I know it couldn't have been easy for you to decide to move up here."

"No, it wasn't. I loved the dry, hot air of Phoenix, but I also felt guilty that I have never spent any quality time with Charlie. The closer I get to college, the less likely that time is going to come. If I didn't act now I would probably run out of time, and it is something I didn't want to end up regretting later on in life."

Alice grinned at me in a way that I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Something inside of me was telling me I wasn't going to like what she was about to say. She was looking an awful like that Cheshire cat from the story _Alice in Wonderland_ and it was making me nervous. My thoughts were confirmed when I heard the next thing come out of her mouth. "So Bella, do you like shopping?"

Yep, most definitely not a good thing; I could just feel my body tense up at the thought. "No, I typically avoid any type of shopping unless it has to do with a bookstore."

Alice scrunched up her nose at that. "Well, I think that is going to change. I already know that we are going to be the best of friends."

If we became best friends, would that really be a good thing? I really didn't want to make Edward's life miserable. "Won't that be too much for Edward to handle? I really don't like the idea of putting him in pain any time I'm near one of you."

"Don't be silly," Emmett said. "Small fry over here already told you that he would be able to handle it. If there is ever any reason to be concerned, you can be assured that Alice will let us know." Even though Emmett's words were given with one hundred percent confidence, I still wasn't sure. It was going to take more than Emmett's words to make me feel more confident.

"Well, Bella, I would like it very much if we could speak again very soon. Maybe next time you will be able to come over to our house and you can properly meet the rest of my family." Carlisle looked at his two children and said, "I think it would be best if we got going; we don't want to make Charlie confused by our presence."

"Before you go, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all," Carlisle said.

"Well, I was just wondering what you all consider each other. Do you consider yourself a coven?"

The three of them all shared a smile with each other. "No we consider ourselves a family," Alice said in a very chipper tone.

"Oh. Well good, I'm glad. That's how it seemed, but I wasn't sure if you calling, Edward, your brother, was you keeping up pretenses. Or if it's actually what you consider him to be."

Alice and Emmett both gave each other cheesy looks. "Nope. No pretenses whatsoever. We are most definitely a family." Emmet told me.

"Thank you for coming over and being understanding about what I know. I promise, you don't have to worry about anything on my part. I would rather die than give away any information regarding your world; I know what the consequences would be for all of you, in addition to me, if that group from Italy ever found out."

Carlisle said in a warm, compassionate voice. "Very true, we wouldn't want them snooping around over here. Have a good evening, Bella. Though I'm sad for the circumstances that forced you to move here, I have to say that I am very happy to have finally met you," I could completely see just what kind of doctor he would make; anybody who had him would be very lucky.

"Oh, and don't worry, Bella." Alice said. "I am keeping an eye out for those nomad vampires. We don't know what they wanted with your mom and stepdad, but I refuse to let you and your dad be in any kind of danger due to them. You have my word on that." Alice seemed so completely adamant about that fact that I wholeheartedly believed every word.

"Thank you, Alice." When they started walking out of the house I added, "It has been very nice to meet you all. Oh, and thank you again, Carlisle, for the help you provided my dad." And I saw them all get into Carlisle's car and drive away.

Realizing that school had ended a couple of hours ago, I knew that Thomas was probably getting nervous for my phone call. I pulled out my cell phone and called Thomas.

"Bella, thank God, I was really starting to worry. You can't tell me there are others like me and then not call me when you tell me you're going to."

When I heard the panicked tone in his voice I felt awful. I had no intention of worrying him so much. "I'm so sorry, I should have at least sent you a text letting you know that I needed to hold off on my phone call for a little bit. Please tell me you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you. I just worry about my family. Please tell me what happened." he asked me. I could hear his voice slowly calming down.

"Well, there is a coven, and, to be exact, they consider themselves a family of vampires who live with the same convictions you do. Three of them came over to my house after school to talk to me."

"Really? They were at your house?" He seemed to take a moment to stop himself from worrying before he started talking again. "I've never met anyone else that lives off the blood of animals. How many of them are there of them?" He seemed really interested in this. For so long he thought he was the only vampire in this world that valued human life. I could hear the relief to know that he wasn't alone.

"There are seven in all, and actually, the head of the family is Dr. Cullen."

"He's an actual doctor? Wait a minute, isn't that the same doctor that helped Charlie get down to Phoenix?" he asked.

"Yes to both of your questions. From everything that Charlie has told me about Carlisle, he's the best doctor the hospital has ever seen." I didn't have to see him at work to believe every single word that Charlie told me about him. I could tell by his compassionate nature that he would be the best.

"So, have you met all of them?" he asked.

"I haven't met Carlisle's wife yet but I saw all of the others today. It appears that they have at least one talented member of their family, a feisty girl who has the ability to see the future. Apparently she saw the attack of Mom and Phil but didn't understand who anybody was to stop the attack until after Carlisle got home from taking Charlie to the airport."

"So, she saw who the nomads were?"

"Yes and she wanted to let me know that she is keeping an eye out for them. She made a promise that they would not be allowed anywhere near me or Charlie." It seemed so strange to automatically trust every single member of that family, but I knew that I would be safe with them around.

"Well, I have to admit that I am grateful to them. Do you think Carlisle would be willing to talk to me on the phone?"

"I'm sure he would be fine with that. I will ask the next time I see them." Just then I heard Charlie's squad car make its way up the driveway. "Thomas, my dad is just getting home. I should probably finish getting supper ready, do you mind if I call you again later? I'll give you all of the details that I know about the Cullen family at that time."

"That's fine. Tell Charlie hello for me?"

"I will. Bye, Thomas." I couldn't wait until he moved closer. Once he arrived, I knew I would feel more settled.

"Bye, Bella."

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I really hope you have liked this story so far. I know the updates are going slow but I'm hoping that with my kids starting school again, that I will find more time to work on both of my stories.

I hope you will let me know what you think with a REVIEW.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update this chapter. It has not been intentional, I promise you.

I would like to thank the two beta's from Project Team Beta (My-Heart-Of-Music and itlnbrt) who helped me with this chapter. You have no idea how much your assistance has meant to me.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 3**

**(Alice's POV)**

"So, Carlisle, what did you think?" I was eager to find out what his true feelings were about Bella Swan knowing about us.

"I think that Bella Swan is a very special person. She seems to be a very selfless person. I think she must be the only human who would be more worried about the pain her scent is causing one of us instead of her own safety of being near a vampire." I couldn't quite tell if he was bothered by this or in awe.

Emmett didn't hesitate to let us know his opinion in this matter. "I think she's amazing. I feel like I have always known her and hope that she is going to be around a lot." He pursed his lips before adding, "Is Edward really going to be okay with her around?"

I remembered my first vision of Edward and Bella earlier during lunch, right before she walked by us. If Emmett had asked that question during lunch my answer would have been different. I still cringed at the vision of Edward attacking Bella right their in the middle of the cafeteria, but thankfully that never happened. I think between me somewhat restraining him and Bella's shocking words to take Edward hunting immediately was enough to shock him into submission.

The rest of the afternoon I tried seeing the potential danger Bella would be in with Edward around, and everything that I saw showed him able to handle the pain. He would actually learn to deal with the constant burn in his throat so that he could spend time with her. I had a feeling that they were going to have a very special relationship, and I didn't need a vision to predict that. I could tell that they were going to be each others mates, even though I don't think either one of them had any idea of that quite yet. I looked up at the back of Emmett's head and answered, "From everything that I have seen so far, we have nothing to worry about. Edward is going to acclimate himself to her scent and they will one day be good friends."

"Cool." He responded, "I wouldn't want to have to kill my brother. But if he hurt Bella, I think I would have to. There's just something about that girl that makes me want to protect her."

"I quite agree with you there. It almost feels like I have some kind of internal link to her now." I didn't understand but I hoped to eventually.

"Same here, though I have always kind of felt that same connection to Chief Swan as well. I've never understood it but I just kind of accept it for what it is." Emmett said quietly.

"How strange," Carlisle said. "Will you please let me know if you break that mystery? I'm very interested to find out why that would happen."

My vampire father, the perpetual student of all things unexplainable. I really enjoyed Carlisle's fascination with this stuff. "Oh you don't have to worry about that Carlisle; I'm sure if either one of us can figure it out, we will most definitely let you in on the secret."

"Thank you."

We were pulling up to the house and I could see that we were going to have a family meeting. "It appears we'll be sharing our new found information with the family. They are already making their way to the dining room."

After we went inside, I situated myself on Jasper's lap. Rosalie's voice started grating on my nerves. "We have to leave, don't we?" I guess hoping that she could care one tiny iota about why Bella would know about us would keep her from being her normal self. She always has been a glass half-empty type and only thinks about what this may mean for her: a self-righteous, self-centered, self-absorbed, selfish bitch. If I had the time, I would be trying to come up with more adjectives pertaining to my annoying sister right now. But unfortunately that would have to wait.

Edward must have been paying attention to my mental tirade at Rosalie because he smirked at me. I'm sure he was thinking of additional words I could use. I'll have to check with him later – when we were done with our family meeting, that is.

Carlisle kept his calm when he answered Rosalie's question. "No Rosalie, we have no need to move away."

Rosalie cut him off before he could say anything else, "But she knows our secret! If we're staying, does that mean we are going to get rid of the annoying little human?"

"NO!" Emmett, Edward and I all exclaimed. I had to admit that I was happy by Edward's reaction.

"Rosalie, there is absolutely no need to have to get rid of anybody. Yes, Bella knows all about us, but it's because she has known about our kind her entire life. She has never, nor will she ever reveal that secret. It's not only for the safety of herself that she keeps the secret so closely guarded – It's also for the vampire population. She knows the danger everyone will be in if the Volturi ever found out about her." All I could do was cringe at the thought of them coming after her.

Esme put her hand into Carlisle's. "Carlisle, sweetheart, how is it possible that Bella has known about our kind her entire life? Who would have told her? And if she knows, does that mean that Chief Swan knows as well?"

"Well, you see, the adopted uncle she was with the night of her mother and stepfather's brutal deaths' isn't really her adopted uncle. It's only a cover story for who he really is and Chief Swan only knows the cover story, he has no knowledge of our kind."

Carlisle must have accidentally let his thoughts get ahead of him; because before he had a chance to say anything more, Edward was blurting, "He's her Great-Great Grandfather?"

"Yes, on her mother's side. The family secret is very heavily guarded, so much that Charlie had never met Thomas until he went to Phoenix. Charlie truly believes that his ex-mother-in-law had adopted him only a couple of years before she passed away – well after the time in which Charlie ever spent time with her." Before Edward could ask another question, Carlisle must have said something to him mentally because Edward allowed Carlisle to proceed. "We didn't get the full history on how Thomas became a vampire, but we do know that he follows the same diet we do. In fact, that's another reason why Bella had willingly decided to move up to Forks. She was hoping to give Thomas an excuse to get out of Phoenix, to a more weather friendly environment so he can be outdoors during the day. According to Bella, he is only staying in Phoenix right now so that he can help with the selling of her home. Once that is completed, he plans on moving to Port Angeles to be closer to Bella."

Emmett added his two cents regarding that, "It sounds like Bella is extremely close to Thomas. You can tell that she misses him a lot. I felt so bad for her when she talked about him; you could see the sadness on her face."

I smiled at Emmett, "She did look sad, but even before we got on the subject, you could tell she felt guilty about what Edward went through during lunch."

He looked surprised. "What does she have to feel guilty about? I'm the one who should feel guilty. I'm the one that almost lost control when she got within reach of me. I could have killed her."

"Yeah well, that's Bella for you." Emmett smirked, "She was very concerned. She wanted us to let you know that you are apparently supposed to sit next to each other during Biology class. She also said that if you want her to transfer out of that class, just let her know and she will try to arrange it. She doesn't want you to have to feel the pain of thirst every time you're near her." This was when his smirk turned more into a snarl, "And let me warn you now, my dear brother; if you hurt even one hair on her head, you will answer to me. I feel very protective of her and I wouldn't even think twice about killing you."

Esme was clearly startled by Emmett's remarks, but Edward didn't even flinch, "I wouldn't expect anything less for something like that. Though, I hope it never comes to that."

"Emmett, what is with you? Why on earth would you even care what happens to a human?" Rosalie seemed appalled.

Carlisle answered for Emmett, "Well it seems that since we moved here, Emmett has felt the same protectiveness for Charlie that he now has for Bella." When Carlisle looked at me he added, "In fact Alice feels the same need to protect Bella. We aren't sure why this would be but I think I'm going to try and research this a little bit."

"Alice honey, are these feelings due to the vision that you had?" Jasper asked trying to understand where I was coming from with this.

"I don't think it was just the vision I had, it feels like more than that. I think I would feel the same apin and loss I felt when I saw what happened to Bella's mom if anything happened to her. In fact, having met her now, I think that feeling of loss would be a thousand times worse; which is why I told her I'm going to keep an eye on the nomads." I could just feel the hatred for them start to get the better of me. I looked at Jasper who understood what I needed and help calm me down. To show him my thanks I kissed him on his cheek.

"So what do we do next?" Esme asked.

"Well, the next time we meet I think we will have Bella come over here." Looking over at Edward, "That is, of course, if you were okay with that Edward?"

"Oh, he will be." I could tell that Edward wasn't too sure, "Don't worry, Edward. I have seen that you are going to slowly work up your resistance. You have to trust me when I say that you can do this. And in the long run, you will be so much happier if you can."

Still not sounding sure of himself, he gave me his most pathetic look, "Any suggestions on what I can do to make this easier?"

I rolled my eyes at his overly dramatic expression, "You need to acclimate yourself. I would suggest you slowly increase your resistance. If you want, one of us could call Bella and ask if we could borrow an article of clothing to begin with. That way you're exposed to her scent without her being within reach."

When he nodded his assent, I got my cell phone out and proceeded to call her home number. Within a couple of rings, I heard Bella pick up the other line. "Hello."

"Hi Bella. It's Alice Cullen. I hope I'm not interrupting you."

"You're not interrupting anything, I was just putting some cornbread into the oven. What do you need?" She asked, clearly happy to talk to me. It made me smile.

"Well, you see, we just had a family meeting and we were discussing things that we could do to help Edward get acclimated to your scent."

"Oh really? Any ideas?"

I knew everyone in my family was able to hear every word Bella said on the phone, but I just grinned when I saw the dazed look on Edward's face. I think it was more then just her scent that affected him. "As a matter of fact, we think that if we slowly expose him to your scent, it would help him out. Would you by chance have a sweatshirt or something that you have recently worn that we could have?"

"Yes, of course. Actually, if you want you can use the sweatshirt I've worn all day today. Did you want me to bring it to school tomorrow, or did you want it sooner than that?" Ah, good question. I would think the sooner the better. Otherwise Edward may have to stay home from school even longer; and believe me, if we had to endure the torture of school, so did he.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I think either Emmett or I will come by in the next little bit to get it. We can use some kind of excuse of passing on our class notes to you for an upcoming test."

"Sure, that's fine Alice, but I don't have any classes with either of you."

"No problem, we can just say we are bringing our brother's notes. After all, Edward and you do have a class together." Edward rolled his eyes at me, trying to make me believe that he could care less about what was going on, but I knew better.

Looking ahead to see what Charlie's reaction would be to Emmett or myself coming over tonight, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Charlie's reaction to Emmet. Unfortunately, Bella had no clue what I was doing and she asked, "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing Bella. I was just looking ahead to see if it would be better for Emmett or myself to come by." Laughing again, I explained. "It looks like his reaction to Emmet stopping by would be a bad thing. One look at the big bad Emmett Cullen coming by to offer class notes to his little girl is going to make your Dad have second thoughts about you going to a public school that consists of the opposite sex and seriously consider putting you into a convent."

When I finished explaining my story, I could hear Bella groan while most of my family started laughing at what I had just told her. Well, at least most of the family found that funny. Edward, on the other hand, seemed a little upset. '_What's wrong Edward? Are you jealous?'_ I thought at him when his eyes stopped on mine I could see the indignation on his face. I just grinned at him. It was most definitely going to be fun teasing Edward about Bella Swan, I couldn't wait.

"Well then, I guess it would be best if you come over, Alice. I would really like to avoid anything that would get Charlie upset with me so soon after moving in with him." From the sound of her voice, my best guess would be that she was embarrassed right now.

"I completely understand. Don't worry; I will try to be there after you're both done with supper."

"That sounds great. Oh, wait, Alice?"

"Yes?" I asked curious at what she was going to ask.

"Well, when you left I spoke to Thomas and explained how I met your family today. He was a bit scared for my welfare but after I explained that you follow the same diet that he does, and that Carlisle is a doctor, he was very intrigued. In fact, he wanted me to find out if it would be okay for him to call Carlisle sometime?" Bella seemed really nervous about our reaction, like we would say no.

"Of course! Carlisle, or in fact anyone of us would be more than – willing to talk to Thomas. Just give him our phone number." I looked at Carlisle to make sure it was okay with him.

"Thank you, Alice. You have no idea how guilty I feel that I am all he has left in this world. I feel like I hold him back from what he could be." I could hear the tears in her voice. Bella probably didn't understand how devoted we could be to our family; she had absolutely no reason to feel guilty about his devotion. Bella truly was a selfless creature, only worried about the happiness of others.

After a few seconds, Bella seemed to find better control of her voice. "I am so glad that he will have the ability to get to know others like him. Others like him who also have the same convictions for human life that he has."

"We're just happy that we can be here for both you and Thomas. Please give him our phone number and tell him to give us a call whenever he wants to."

"Thank you, Alice. Oh. Do you mind if I talk to Edward for a minute?"

I grinned at a surprised Edward, "Of course not, Bella."

Edward took the phone from me, "Hello."

"Hi Edward, are you doing okay?" She asked him.

Edward sighed, "I'm fine Bella, don't worry about me. I'm just sorry that I almost lost control earlier today."

"Don't worry about it Edward, I completely understand. Actually that's what I was hoping to talk to you about."

"Okay." Edward said, probably wondering where this conversation was going.

"Alice and Emmett made it sound like you were eventually going to be okay with me being within breathing distance, but I wanted to let you know that for now if you need me to transfer or come up with an excuse to skip class to make it easier just let me know. You could have Alice or someone pass me a message and I will take care of whatever it is on my side."

Edward's mouth seemed to be stuck in an open position, causing Emmett to chuckle. After a minute of no response from Edward, we could hear Bella on the other line, "Um, Edward? Are you still there?"

I slapped his arm to get his attention. "What? Oh sorry, Bella. I'm just a little surprised by your willingness to try and accommodate my weakness."

"Well, I can only imagine how uncomfortable you must be feeling, and I hate knowing that I'm doing that to somebody. So please let me know if it's getting to be too much for you and I will make excuses to be out of class. Okay? Will you do that for me?" She was practically begging him to go along with her plan.

"Yes of course, Bella. Though I could just skip class if it came down to it. I have been through high school quite a few times, I would hate for you to miss out on something new."

Bella laughed, "Oh I already learned all of this material in the AP Biology class I was taking in Phoenix. I think it may be a while before we get to something new." When Bella mentioned AP classes both Carlisle and Edward seemed to be impressed by that.

"Well then, let's just take it day-by-day. Okay?"

"Okay. Well, I better go. Can you please tell Alice that I'll see her in a little bit?"

"Yes, I will tell her." He looked at me to make sure that I got the message.

"Bye Edward."

"Goodbye Bella."

'_See Edward, you have to admit that Bella is one very amazing, selfless young woman.'_ When he quietly nodded his agreement I added, _'Don't worry Edward, you'll get a handle on your thirst.'_

"I hope so." Edward said softly.

Esme, being the ever loving mother, could see the pain that Edward was in and went over to him to put a loving arm around his shoulder. "Please don't worry so much, Edward. Your family knows that you will be able to get through this; even if you don't quite believe that yet. What you need to do is realize that you are stronger than you think you are." She put her hand on his chin to force him to look at her, "The rest of your family knows you are capable of handling anything – even this. And the sooner you believe in yourself, the sooner you will be able to find the strength to get through this."

"Your mother's right son; you are the only one here who doubts your abilities." Carlisle added to Esme's comments.

Edward looked at all of us and must have decided that it was a good time to bring up something. "Actually, there is something else that I think you should all know when it comes to Bella Swan."

Carlisle looked a little confused, "What is that, Edward?"

"Well, before she walked past us at lunch, I noticed something very different about Bella Swan." Carlisle must have asked him to elaborate on that, because he looked over at Carlisle and continued, "I can't hear any of her thoughts."

"Are you serious?" Jasper asked him, quite stunned.

"Yes. I tried reading Bella's mind while she was talking to Jessica, but could not hear anything other than her actual voice when she was responding to something Jessica was saying."

"That is so cool, but at the same time so unfair." Emmett said in astonishment, "I wonder if she can show me how she does that, I'd love to have you out of my mind for once. Then maybe I could beat you in a fair fight."

Edward smirked. "I don't think that would even help you out Emmett, I'm too fast for you regardless."

Carlisle looked very serious. "I can see that ability actually putting Bella at more risk of our kind."

"Why would you say that, dear?" Esme asked, looking quite concerned.

"Well, if she can block her mind from someone like Edward, can you imagine what that could mean to other vampires abilities? Just imagine if Aro hears about a human who can block her mind from a mind reader the likes of Edward – this could make her quite the novelty. I believe he would want to transform her so that he can add her to his collection of gifted vampires."

"Over my dead body! He will never come near Bella!" I growled, and was not surprised to hear my brothers agreeing with me.

(Bella's POV)

"That was great, Bells. Thank you for making supper." Charlie said while patting his full stomach. "Do you mind if I go watch the basketball game starting in the next few minutes?"

"Go ahead Dad. Once I finish up here I'm probably just going to head to my room so that I can work on homework." I figured that it would probably be best to warn him about the company coming. "I hope you don't mind, but someone is supposed to be stopping by long enough to loan me their class notes so that I'm prepared for a test coming up."

"That's fine. Who is being kind enough to lend you their notes? Don't they need them?" He asked, but I couldn't quite tell if he was suspicious or just trying to make small talk.

"I met Alice Cullen after school today and told her what classes I have. When she heard I have a class with her brother she offered me the use of his notes. I plan on just copying them tonight so that I can give them back in the morning. I don't plan on keeping them." There, I think I did that convincingly enough. I was going to have to practice on my excuses, something I never had to worry about in Phoenix because Renee was always in on it.

"That was very nice of Alice, but I hope her brother doesn't mind. Won't he need his own notes for studying?" Charlie didn't seem to be suspicious about it, so I hope everything continued to go well when Alice got here.

"From what Alice says, Edward doesn't need them, but I will only have them for tonight. It's not like I'm going to keep them forever." Charlie just shrugged, letting me know that he was going to drop it.

Just when I was finishing up in the kitchen, someone knocked at the front door. Knowing who it was, I made my way to the door and opened it to a smiling Alice. "Hi, Bella."

"Hi Alice, won't you come in?" After she walked in she followed me into the kitchen so that we can have a little more privacy. Though, I don't imagine Charlie really paying any attention to anything other than the game, I didn't want to take any chances.

Keeping up pretenses, Alice handed me a notebook, "Here is Edward's Biology notebook. Feel free to copy any class notes that you need, he doesn't mind."

I rolled my eyes at our little play acting. "Thank you, Alice. I really appreciate it. Tell Edward I will have this back to him tomorrow." I picked up the bag holding my sweatshirt in it and handed it to Alice. I quietly said, "Please let me know when you need a new item."

It looked like Alice's eyes were glazing over, so I wasn't sure if I was just boring her or if this was an indication of her looking ahead. Finally, after a minute her eyes became reanimated and she looked at me with a frustrated sigh. "I can see these little tops," she said while scrunching up her nose at the bag carrying my favorite hoodie, "is a daily habit of yours."

"Yes. Though I can see how upset you are at the idea; I am someone who is more into dressing for comfort than what's fashionable. I have always dressed that way, and have no desire to change it." I was starting to get annoyed by the snobbish look on her face.

Eventually, she smiled. "Oh, I can tell you with a one-hundred percent guarantee that your dressing habits are most certainly going to change." Tapping a finger to her temple, she gave me an evil grin. "I've already seen it happen, so you might as well get accustomed to the idea. But until that time comes, I think it would be a good idea if we swap your tops each day after school. You provide us with the hoodie you have worn all day and we will give you the one from the day before. That way he always has a fresh scent to help accustom him to you faster."

"That sounds fine, though I hardly see how my dressing habits will change. But I'm too tired to argue that point with you right now." I also didn't think I would have much luck in doing so anyways. I could tell that she was a force of nature and she would terrorize me until I gave in – Or until I have Thomas put a stop to her fashion changing ways; I really hope he gets here soon.

We slowly made our way back to the entry way at the same time it must have been a commercial, because Charlie was getting up from the couch. "Is the game over already, Dad?"

"No, I just thought I would get another beer during the commercials." He looked at Alice and gave her an awkward smile.

"Dad, this is Alice Cullen. Alice, this is my dad, Charlie."

"It's so nice to meet you Chief Swan, my Dad always talks very highly of you." Alice said while shaking his hand.

Charlie seemed embarrassed and his cheeks got a hint of pink to them due to her little compliment. "Please, call me Charlie." He looked at me for a second, probably trying to regain his composure. "So, Bella here says that you were going to bring over some class notes for her?"

"Yes," and before I knew if she was going through a very detailed explanation. "I heard that Bella had a class with my brother and I wanted to make sure that she didn't feel behind in any way. I know what it can be like to start a new school in the middle of the year, and I wanted to try to make her feel as comfortable as possible. So when I got home, I let Edward know that Bella here was in his Biology class, you see he had gotten ill during lunch, so he had no way of knowing that there was a new student in his class. I asked him if he would mind lending her his notes for a night and he seemed more then happy to help out."

"Well, that was very nice of you and your brother." Charlie said a bit awkwardly. I could tell that he was really hoping I would adjust easily to a new school, but at the moment his embarrassment over Alice's kind words were still flustering him. "Do you by chance have any classes with Bella?"

Alice frowned, "Unfortunately no, I don't. I'm hoping we will be able to spend time together outside of school. I would love to include her on one of my shopping trips someday." When Alice saw me cringe, she just gave me a knowing smile that just irritated me more than anything. I really hope Thomas gets up here quickly.

"Thank you again, Alice."

"You're very welcome, Bella. Though, I should probably be going. I promised to pick up something for my brother, to help him get better." I couldn't help but look at the bag in her hand when she mentioned that. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella. Bye."

"Bye, Alice, thank you again. Tell Edward I hope to have the chance to meet him – when he feels better, that is." I turned around to see Charlie giving me a hopeful look. When I realized that the game was back on, I knew exactly what he was hoping for. "I'll go get you a new beer Dad, go back to the game."

When I came back in with his drink, I got the ever distracted male reply. "Thanks, Bells."

"No problem. I'm going to head upstairs to my room and get started on my homework. Let me know if you need anything else." All I got was a nod from Charlie, which didn't exactly tell me whether or not he really heard me or was just hoping that if he agreed with me that he would have silence again. Shaking my head, I made my way back up to my room with Edward's notebook.

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I hope you will take the time to let me know what you think...I truly do appreciate all of the reviews that are left for me.


	4. Chapter 4

I would like to thank the wonderful people from Project Team Beta, who helped me with this chapter. You all are absolutely, wonderful and the help you give is very much appreciated.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 4**

**(Bella's POV)**

I really had no clue what to expect from my second day at school. But one thing was certain...I was so distracted with my own thoughts that I found myself getting ready much faster than was safe for a person like me.

Instead of paying attention to where I was going, my thoughts were drawn to the presence of the Cullen family and what that would mean to Thomas. To finally have found vampires with the same beliefs he had. Others, Thomas could spend time with when my human body kept me from being able to do some of the things I'm sure he wanted to do.

Then, of course, there were my thoughts about Edward. Did the desensitizing with my hoodie work last night? Was it going to allow him to be within a city block of me without the need to drain me of every drop of my blood? Would he finally be able to speak to me face to face instead of over the phone? I really hoped so, because if he couldn't, I was going to miss a lot of biology.

I was so distracted that I didn't notice I was going down the steps too quickly until it was too late. To make the long story short, I fell down and ended up landing very awkwardly on my left ankle.

Several minutes later, after I was able to focus on something other than the extreme pain, I slowly dragged myself over to the couch in the living room. I knew there would be no point in trying to put any pressure on my ankle; I'd probably end up over compensating and falling flat on my face.

I just sat there for who knows how long, trying to figure out what I should do. I didn't want to take Charlie away from work, and I definitely didn't want to reveal how accident prone I was yet to the Cullens. With that being said, it only left me with one option, and he wouldn't even be able to help me.

But he obviously didn't think so because it was only a moment later that my cell phone rang.

Without even a hello, I answered, "Let me guess, you just saw my trip down the stairs?"

"Yes, I did," Thomas said with a matter of fact tone to his voice. It was the tone he used during these instances. It was mostly unsettling fear with a hint of amusement tacked on for good measure. Thomas was always extremely concerned for my welfare, but at the same time, if he didn't try to find the humor in the situation, he would very likely go insane. Since this type of thing was prone to happen on an almost daily basis, Thomas had trained himself to handle things a little bit more calmly than he had when I was really little.

"I have to admit that the look on your face when you realized that you were falling would be considered quite hysterical to some people, I, on the other hand, feel myself more worried than anything else." He took a moment, working through whatever he needed to work through to allow himself to talk again. "At first I was so relieved – to finally be seeing a vision of you after so many days of seeing nothing, but then my happiness was quickly dissipated when I realized you hurt yourself. How bad is it?"

"I'm not sure yet." When I thought about what he had just said, I asked, "Are you saying you haven't seen me at all until right now?" How could that be? That just seemed strange, back home he never had a problem seeing how my day had gone. He was always ready when I got home from school to call and ask me about certain events that he saw happen during the day.

"No, I haven't, and I have to tell you that it was really starting to worry me." I could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I was beginning to think that there was maybe too much distance between us for me to see anything. I just wish my ability was to see what was going to happen and not what had already happened. If I could see the future, I would maybe have protected your mother."

"Stop it!" There was no way I was going to allow him to continue to feel guilty about something he had no control over. "What happened to Mom was not your fault. You are not to blame for those sick sadistic bastards. They are the only ones to blame in all of this, not you."

I knew he was beside himself with guilt over not seeing signs that my mom and Phil were in danger, but I wasn't in immediate danger. That was a completely separate circumstance where he didn't see what had happened.

Personally, I was relieved that he didn't see any of that. I couldn't imagine what he would be going through if he had. That would just be one more awful image to live with for the rest of eternity. But I knew it really unnerved him to take me home that night to find out that they had been killed like that.

"At least you know that you can still see me. Well, at least for certain things, that is," I said, hoping to change the subject.

"Yes, at least I saw something, though I think I'm going to try to get up to Washington as soon as possible. I hate this being so far away from you. I'm not much use to you right now, and I find that very aggravating." I understood his feeling of helplessness and hated to hear the frustration in his voice. Finally, after he took a moment to calm down again, he asked, "So, how did you want to handle this latest accident? Are you planning on calling your father to let him know that you need help?"

I was shaking my head before I even answered. "No. I really don't want to have to bother Charlie, and I also don't want to call the Cullens. They don't need to know what a menace on two feet I am, do they?"

Thomas blew out a breath. Knowing him the way I do, it was probably all in exasperation over my stubborn pride.

"Bella, honey, you have to know that at some point we were all human. We were probably all accident prone or at least injured in some capacity during our human lives. I'm sure Dr. Cullen wouldn't dream of giving you a hard time about you hurting your ankle."

"You're probably right," I grumbled. "Did you end up calling him last night?" I asked while attempting to change the subject.

"Of course I'm right. And to answer your question, no, I did not call Dr. Cullen last night. I needed to hunt and figured I would give him a call later today." I was glad to hear him tell me this. I just knew it would be good for him to have someone like him to talk to. "Bella, I think you should call Dr. Cullen. I'm sure he would be more than willing to come to the house and take a look at your ankle. That way you don't have to try to drive yourself to the doctor."

If I had to venture a guess, I would assume that he was shaking his head, knowing all too well that I would be lacking the coordination to do much of anything right now. "I'm sorry to say this, honey, but at the moment we don't even know whether or not you can even manage getting yourself out to your truck without hurting yourself even worse than you are right now."

Before I had the chance to make a childish remark to that last comment, I heard a car pulling up to the house.

"Just a minute, Thomas, someone is here." Though I could barely see out the window from where I was sitting I could clearly see a black car outside. I rolled my eyes at what could only have been the result of the mystical eye of Alice Cullen. Of course she would see my need for help. "Actually, I don't think it's going to be necessary for me to call Dr. Cullen."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I think he just pulled up to the house."

"Dr. Cullen is there right now? I wonder how he knew you needed help." But not even a moment later he answered his own question, "It must have been from the one who can see the future. I'm sorry, Bella, but I don't think you'll be successful in hiding your lack of coordination from them after all." I tried to ignore the amusement in his voice. There was no use getting mad at him about this. It was purely on me and my own weaknesses that got me into this mess.

"Yeah, well I should probably let you go. I'll call you later to let you know what the diagnosis is."

"Okay, just please be careful, Bella. I don't like knowing you are injured." I could hear the sadness in his voice. "Oh, before I let you go, I wanted to let you know that you should be getting a package from me sometime this week."

"You didn't buy me anything did you?" I asked him incredulously, he knew that I wasn't fond of getting presents.

"Bella," he said in an almost frustrated sigh. "You remind me so much of your great-great grandmother sometimes. She never liked receiving gifts no matter what the occasion, but no, I didn't buy you a gift. I just thought…well, to be honest, this is an item that would have been given to you eventually. It's just coming to you a little earlier than we would have planned. It's up to you whether you want to keep it or not. If you're not ready to have it, you can return it to me when I get up there, okay?"

"Okay."

"Please call me when you're done with Dr. Cullen. I want to know that you're alright."

"I will. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye, Bella."

As soon as I ended my phone call, Alice Cullen popped her head around the corner giving me an exasperated look. "Bella, is it really that difficult to swallow your pride and just call one of us for help?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "You know what, Alice? It wasn't necessarily my pride I was trying to save." She gave me an incredulous look which told me there was no way she believed me. "Well, okay, but to be perfectly honest with you, I just wanted to keep my accident prone side hidden from all of you a little bit longer." My mind drifted to some of the members of her family before I elaborated. "I have a feeling that some of your family would take a lot of pleasure in giving me a hard time about it, and I guess I wanted to avoid that for now." I looked to see if there was anyone else with her. "Isn't Carlisle with you?"

"No, he went out hunting this morning before I saw your accident, but he'll be home soon so that he can look at your ankle." When she still noticed my nervous expression, she just gave me a knowing look. "You really don't need to worry, Bella, as of right now the only person who knows about me coming here this morning is Edward, and that's because he read my thoughts. Though, Edward did want me to tell you to please be careful and that he hopes you are doing better soon. I think he would have come here to help you if he could have, but he is not yet ready to test his ability to be near you quite yet."

I was still so shocked by what Alice said about Edward being able to read minds that I couldn't take the time to think about anything else she was saying. "What do you mean, Edward read your thoughts?"

"Oh, I guess we didn't really get into that, did we?" I shook my head at her. "Well, you see I'm not the only one in the family with talents. Edward has the ability to read minds, and Jasper can affect the emotions of people around him."

"Edward can read my mind?" Crap! What does that mean? I tried my hardest to remember anything that I may have thought in his presence yesterday that I should be embarrassed about.

Alice grinned. "Why are you turning all red, Bella? Care to share with the class?"

My mouth opened and closed several times, but I couldn't find the courage to speak. Finally, Alice just laughed at me.

"You have nothing to worry about, Bella," Alice explained. "Last night, Edward confessed to us that he can't hear your thoughts."

I was a little confused but at the same time felt relief at what she said. "What do you mean? I mean…has he even been around me enough to really know that for a fact?"

"That's a good question, and at this point, we'll just have to wait and find out, won't we?" She laughed at my mortified expression. "But for now, I think that we should get you to our house so that Carlisle can take care of your ankle."

"Won't it bother Edward too much if I have been in your home?" I asked.

"I think having your scent within our home will just help out in the long run."

Remembering the scent acclimation experiment from last night, I decided to ask her about it. "So, did my hoodie survive the night?"

Alice got a disgruntled look on her face, almost as if I had done something to offend her. "Unfortunately for me, your hoodie survived. Though there were a couple of times last night that I thought for sure we would be rid of it."

"What do you mean unfortunately for you? Why on earth would you want my clothing destroyed? Can't I be in control of my own wardrobe?" This need she had to change my wardrobe was really starting to irritate me.

Alice rolled her eyes at me. "Because Bella, you are selling yourself short by wearing the clothes that you wear. Don't you want people to look at you and see the beautiful person I know you are?"

"To be completely honest with you, Alice, I have no interest in being noticed by the people around me. I'm having enough difficulty trying to adjust to everything that has happened in the last month. Just the idea of losing that feeling of comfort I have when it comes to my clothes, makes me feel like panicking. I almost feel like it's the only thing keeping me sane right now. It's the one thing that I can control and I'm not willing to change that for anyone right now."

"Okay, Bella, I understand where you're coming from, and I won't push you about it right now." Alice just sat there for a minute before saying, "Though I will let you know now that you won't be able to use that excuse forever." Seeing that I was still annoyed, Alice pulled me into a small hug.

"Thank you, Alice."

"Now, how about if you let me talk to your dad. We don't want you to get into trouble due to him finding out from the school that you didn't show up today."

After calling my dad and letting him know that I injured my ankle, Alice brought me over to her house. It was by far the most beautiful house I had ever been in. It was so light and airy, a very soothing place in comparison to what I would have imagined them living in.

Alice decided to carry me to Edward's room hoping to add my scent among his things. She laid me on a black chaise. When I looked around his room I was floored at the amount of music he had filling the shelves. You would have thought you had just walked into a music store, with the amount of CDs and records that filled up the space.

Alice came into Edward's room with a bottle of water and handed it to me before heading into a room that I assumed had to be either a closet or bathroom. After about a minute she came back in with a blue button down shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.

"As a peace offering, and for the safety of your clothes, why don't you wear these for today? It will be a way to prevent the possible destruction of your clothing later tonight while Edward continues to work on his acclimation to you. Though the sweatpants are going to be huge on you, the drawstring will help keep them from falling off." She handed me the clothing and gave me a pained smile. "The sweatpants should also make it easier for Carlisle to check out your ankle."

"Thank you." I smiled at her while taking the clothes. I ended up needing a little bit of Alice's help to keep from falling over when I changed my pants but I was definitely more comfortable in these. "So are you going to make him wear this exact outfit when he gets home from school?"

"Probably." She smiled. "I don't see him fighting me on this. In fact if you don't want to risk having your clothes ruined I could just provide you with some of Edward's shirts to sleep in each night." Thinking a little more on this plan she continued, "I could come by each morning and pick it up before he gets ready for school. I can have him wear that particular shirt with whatever else I put out for him that day."

Just the idea of sleeping in Edward's shirts gave me a fluttery feeling inside. Knowing that Alice intended for Edward to wear those same shirts to school the next day gave me goose bumps.

"Why would Edward ever agree to let me sleep in his shirts? Forget that even. Why would Edward ever willingly wear a shirt I had slept in to school the next day?" Alice didn't really answer my question. She just gave me an amused smile before turning to great Carlisle, who had just arrived.

"Good morning, Bella. How is your ankle?" he asked.

"It's fine," I said, and noticed Alice's eye roll at my comment. Seeing the amused expression on Carlisle's face only made me more embarrassed about why I was here in the first place.

"Let's try that again. How is your ankle, Bella?" Carlisle asked while grinning at me.

"It could be worse." I felt like sticking my tongue out at Alice, just because it would make me feel better. But I knew that it would just make me seem like a little kid not getting her way. "It hurts."

Carlisle gently pulled the leg of the sweatpants up, to allow him to get a good look at my ankle. His cold hands felt good, and he was extremely gentle when checking to see what my range of motion was. After a few minutes, he gently put my foot back onto the chaise.

"It's not broken, which is good, but it's most definitely a bad sprain. Let me get a few things out of my office, and we will get you set up. You'll have to stay off this ankle for a week or two so that it can heal." He left Edward's room and was back just a minute later with a brace, a set of crutches and a very pretty woman. I'm assumed this was his wife, the only Cullen family member I had yet to meet.

"Hello, Bella, my name is Esme." She came over and sat at the end of the chaise. "I hope Alice has helped take care of you while we were out."

"Oh yes, Alice has been very kind."

"I'm glad to hear it. Can I get you anything?" she asked. I could see a real look of concern on her face, which made me feel better in a way. Not having my mother around to help me in these situations was hard. Having Esme around for even just the last minute seemed to lessen that ache that I've had deep inside.

"No, I think I'm fine. I'm so sorry my little mishap is disrupting your day."

"Don't worry about it, Bella. I'm just glad that you allowed Alice to bring you over so that Carlisle could take a look at it," Esme said.

"Bella, this brace will help out, but like I said earlier, you will need to stay off your ankle. You can use these crutches to help you get around." After Carlisle finished putting the brace on my ankle, he gently laid it back down on chaise. "But I think for today you should keep your ankle elevated. Do you mind staying here at least until the end of the school day?"

"I guess not," I said as I shrugged my shoulders at him. I was more than willing to miss school today. I really wasn't interested in trying to hobble along on a set of crutches. I had embarrassed myself enough for one day. "Am I able to drive? My truck is a manual and I will need to use my left foot to press in the clutch."

Carlisle frowned at that. "Actually, it would be best if you didn't try to strain your ankle in that way. It would be best if you didn't drive for at least a week, maybe even two depending on how quickly you heal."

"That means I will have to be driven to school by my dad." I gave a disgruntled look at that. Who wants to be driven to school by your dad? Especially when your Dad's vehicle is a squad car.

"You don't need to get a ride from your dad. We'll drive you?" Alice said.

"No. I couldn't do that. What about Edward?"

"What about Edward?" Alice asked.

"Won't that make things too uncomfortable for him?"

"Well, to start off with, we will drive in two separate cars. Edward won't have to be in the same vehicle as you until he knows he can handle it."

"Okay. Fine, I'll let you take me to school," I said feeling a little bit better about the situation. Then a thought struck me – a glorious, heavenly thought. "So, does this mean that I won't have to participate in gym class?"

Carlisle laughed at my new found eagerness over my injury. "You are correct. You should not be participating in any form of gym activities for the next couple of weeks. I'll give you a note explaining this to your teacher, okay?"

I nodded my head. Maybe this accident isn't that bad after all. Too bad this injury couldn't last for the rest of the school year. It's almost worth being injured if it means getting out of my most dreaded class.

"I should probably call Thomas and let him know how my ankle is. He was really worried about me after he saw the accident." Being so preoccupied with needing to call Thomas, I didn't even realize that I had piqued their interest. I dug into my coat pocket and retrieved my cell phone.

"Bella, what did you mean just now when you said that Thomas saw your accident?" Carlisle asked me.

"Oh. Sorry I guess I never explained about Thomas's gift, did I?" I asked suddenly feeling a little nervous about what they would think.

"Well, you did mention that you had met a vampire with a special talent, but you never got into detail about who it was," Alice said. I could tell that she was very interested to know what his gift was.

"He doesn't think it's a very exceptional talent, but he has the ability to see someone's past. We don't know exactly how it works, but quite often he can see events that have taken place in someone's life." I always found it very interesting, but I know that this talent had caused Thomas to see events that he would prefer to never have witnessed.

"It's really strange, though," I said. "He told me this morning that my little accident on the steps was the first thing he has seen about me since I arrived here in Forks." Thinking about why this may be, I started to speculate my theories out loud. "At first I thought that it had to do with how far apart we are distance wise, but now I'm wondering if it may have to do with something else." What else could explain the reason why Thomas had no glimpse of what was going on with my mom and Phil?

"What do you mean? What do you think may have caused his inability to see you?" asked Carlisle. He seemed really curious to understand my thought process on the subject.

"Well, I'm wondering if his inability to see has to do with me having contact with more of his kind." At their surprised expressions I continued, "You see, when those three nomads went after my mom and Phil, he never once got a single glimpse into the fact that she was in danger. It was a total surprise to him when we got home that night."

"That does seem logical. Would you like me to call him and tell him about your ankle?" Carlisle asked. "This would also give us a chance to talk."

After I agreed to Carlisle's request about calling Thomas, Esme made sure that I had ice on my ankle and made me a sandwich for lunch. While Alice stayed with me, entertaining me with stories of their family and how Jasper and she joined the Cullen family. The fact that they moved Edward out of his room while he was away on a hunting trip was pretty comical. I could only imagine Edward's reaction when he got home. Not only did he gain two new family members while he was away, he also got booted out of his room.

Before the end of the school day, Alice decided that it would be best for me to at least change my shirt back into what I had been wearing before I got there. Not wanting to irritate my ankle too much, she allowed me to keep on the sweatpants, which were really comfortable. I wouldn't mind keeping them, if that was possible.

"Shouldn't I be gone before Edward gets here?"

"Actually, Edward is going hunting before he comes home. When he saw my vision earlier today and realized that you would be over here for the day, he decided it would be safer if he took some precautions before coming home."

"Is that actually going to work?"

"Yes, it will help him out a lot. I also plan on meeting him out in the woods before he comes home so that he can put on the shirt today." Alice's eyes glazed over after explaining the plan, when her eyes cleared she smirked at me.

"Why did you just smirk at me?" I had a feeling I couldn't trust the devious look in her eye.

"Oh, no reason…just something that will all come to play later on."

That was it; I was officially irritated with Alice. All day long I had put up with the glazed over look she got when she had a vision. And after every single one of them she would look over at me with this expectant look on her face. I felt like I was a rat in a maze, and she was waiting for me to go in search of the cheese. I had had enough of those looks.

"You know what, Alice? Has anyone ever told you how annoying it is when you don't let the other person in on your visions? Especially, when you make it so completely obvious that the vision is about the person you've spent your entire day with?"

"All the time, but I don't give into Emmett either, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you," Alice said with an even more irritating smirk on her face.

"Hey, I heard that," Emmett said when he walked into Edward's room. I hadn't realized that the rest of them had gotten home until that moment. "But I'm sure that with Bella on my side we can wear down your resistance. What do you say Bella? Are you in?"

"It's worth a shot. You have no idea how frustrating it has been today to get these eager looks from her all day and not know what they're all about. She's kind of mean about the whole thing, don't you think?" I asked Emmett who was looking extremely happy to have someone on his side of this argument.

"I am not mean!" Alice whined. "I just don't like ruining something before it actually happens."

"Well, if you really feel that way, then it's only fair that you keep those looks to yourself. It's not fair to the rest of us left in the dark who have to see you get so excited about something that has yet to happen," I told her with as much anger as I could muster, which next to a vampire didn't really amount to much.

"Yeah, what she said," Emmett said with a more convincing tone of anger to his voice than I could have ever come up with.

Alice just stuck her tongue out at us and walked out of the room, calling out, "You know you love me anyway, so just stop your complaining."

Emmett chuckled. "I believe you are just the person we need around here. Now if you can get after Edward, my day will officially be perfect."

"Why would I need to get after Edward?" I asked unsure what he meant by that comment.

"You know, with the fact that he can read minds he and Alice are the biggest cheaters around here. It's completely unfair," he explained.

"But wait a minute. Alice said that Edward couldn't read my mind. If what she said was true, I don't think I would ever have the need to get after him for cheating," I said quietly, hoping not to make Emmett mad.

Emmett pouted and seemed to contemplate something for a minute before he finally looked at me. "You could get after him for me, couldn't you? I know that he would take you more seriously than he would ever take me."

"I can't promise anything. I mean, given the current situation Edward and I can't be within his scent range without my life being in jeopardy. But maybe, if that day ever comes and Edward and I can be in the same vicinity and you need to call him out for cheating, I will do my best." When he gave me that dimpled grin I thought I should remind him of my limited abilities. There is nothing worse than not living up to a vampire's expectations. "But you have to understand that I can't promise that I will be successful in my attempts."

"Oh, I know that, but it will be fun to watch nonetheless," he said laughing. His laugh and smile easily made me feel both happy and calm. Emotions you wouldn't expect to feel if you got a good look at his size, which could probably put the fear into anyone he met. But there was something about Emmett that was childlike, and it most definitely seemed like he had a bigger bark than bite.

He carried me downstairs to the living room, placed me on the couch, and began to stare at me. It was like he hoped that I would do something to entertain him. I felt like a circus sideshow and he wanted a front row seat.

Finally, after what felt like several minutes, he asked, "How's your ankle?"

"It's okay." The ankle was throbbing but I didn't want to ask for anything. I didn't like the idea of proving to them just how vulnerable I really was.

"Are you sure? Did you want me to get you some ice?" Emmett seemed to be trying to ask me some more questions, but my attention was drawn to something, or to be more exact, someone else who was in the room with us. My eyes were unwillingly stuck looking at a murderously angry looking Rosalie. She looked as though she would like nothing better than to kill me in that very moment, and I could feel a shudder run through my body.

I couldn't understand why I was so scared, but I was. I also couldn't understand what I could have done for Rosalie to be acting this way.

"Rosalie, stop this now!" I could hear Emmett use a dangerously low voice, which finally helped to break the visual connection I seemed to have with Rosalie.

Rosalie didn't spare me another look. Instead she just gave Emmett a pained expression before she rushed out of the room. I could tell that Emmett seemed to be disappointed, but whether it was for Rosalie's behavior or my moment of fear, I just wasn't sure.

"It may be a good idea if I go home now," I quietly told them. When I saw the sad look in Emmett's eyes, I continued with my explanation. "Emmett, I don't want to cause any problems with my being here, and I am obviously causing Rosalie discomfort." I looked at the clock to see what time it was. "I really should go home. I really need to get started with supper if I have any hopes of having it done by the time Charlie gets home."

"But I'm not ready for you to go home yet." He all but pouted out the words.

"Emmett, I'm fine. We can visit another day. I'm not going anywhere. I think you should go spend some quality time with Rosalie," I said, hopeful that I would get him to understand.

"I'm sorry Rosalie acted this way." He looked like he was trying to find the right words to explain something to me. "Rose…well…you see Rose is very protective of our family and the fact that you are new, in addition to the fact that you're also human, leaves her feeling extra vulnerable."

I felt awful. I didn't want to make Rosalie feel like that. This was her home and her family, and she had every right to feel the way she does. I was the stranger in this situation. If Rosalie would feel more comfortable with me having limited access to her family, I could do that.

"Bella, what do you think you're doing?" Alice asked me when she walked into the living room. I could tell by the expression on her face that she was not very happy with me at the moment.

"What do you mean, Alice?" I asked.

"Why do I see you avoiding us? So help me if Rosalie has scared you off I will be extremely disappointed in you," she said with her arms folded in front of her. I felt as though I was being scolded for not eating my vegetables the way she was staring at me.

"She hasn't scared me off, but I can understand that she is unsure of my presence around your family. I will not be the cause of her discomfort." I looked over at Emmett with a smile. "Emmett, you really should go be with Rosalie. I know she can hear me, but she may need to be reassured by you that I don't mean to cause problems for any of you. I can go home, and maybe one day when everyone is ready for my presence, I can come by again."

"But I wanted to visit with you." He truly looked as though I was a mean bully trying to take away his favorite toy. I hated to upset him, but I knew my leaving right now was the right thing to do.

"It's not that I'm going to stay away. I just think it might be wise to take this slow, because it's not just Rosalie that would need to get use to me. You have to remember that my scent is going to be a problem for Edward. It's probably safer if I go home right now."

I realized that because Rosalie wanted to stay away from me, and Edward needed to, my ride to school might need to be rearranged.

"Absolutely not, Bella," Alice said before I had a chance to bring up the subject. "You will not be asking your dad to give you a ride to school. Emmett and I can come pick you up in the morning. If Rosalie wants to stay away she can ride with Edward in his car."

"Fine." I just sighed and gave up any thought of arguing with her. "Can I go home now?"

Alice just rolled her eyes and sighed. I could tell that she wanted me to stay, but I couldn't on good conscience do that.

"Fine, we will take you home. I can see that you're just going to be stubborn about this, though you are not going to have the option of letting Rosalie win forever. At some point, Bella, you are going to have to stand up for your right to be here. Because believe me, Bella, you do belong," she said with such conviction that I was shocked that she felt that way.

"How on earth can you possibly know that I belong?" I asked with only a small voice.

Alice just knowingly tapped her temple. "Believe me, Bella, I know."

"Okay, I believe you, but not today. Can you please take me home now? I would like to get supper started for my dad." I needed to get home and figure out how I was going to handle another Cullen family member, who wouldn't come within reach of me. Granted, I knew that Edward's distance had nothing to do with his dislike of me, unlike Rosalie, but at the moment it all felt the same.

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_Thank you so much for reading! _

_I hope you'll let me know what you think._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 5**

**(Bella's POV)**

The rest of the week just got more and more difficult for me to keep grasp on my emotions. With the embarrassment of hobbling around on crutches, anger over the strange looks and hushed whispers I still got from the majority of the students at school, sorrow and guilt over the loss of my mom, and the pain of being away from Thomas – I was at my breaking point.

Then added to all of that was the very severe case of unease I felt over the complete one-eighty Edward pulled in his treatment towards me.

When I look back at that first day, I understood the initial anger, maybe even hatred that I saw on his face. But after the phone call we shared later that night, I was left feeling somewhat better.

It was just funny how things could change. If I wasn't careful, I knew I would end up with a severe case of whiplash.

For the rest of that week, the closest Edward and I got was through phone calls, and even those phone conversations didn't go like I thought they would.

That first phone conversation we shared, it had been nice, friendly even, with no indication that he held such contempt for me. I took the time at the end of each day to call him; I wanted to find out how he was doing, but I also hoped to find out if there was anything I could do to make things easier on him. Unfortunately, each phone call lasted no more than a few seconds, because as soon as he answered all he did was growl into the phone. I could never be positive what he said during his growls, but it sounded like he said something about not being ready yet. Before I could even stop him, he'd hang up on me.

Regardless to say, I was deeply disappointed and somewhat hurt by his reaction.

Now, all I felt was bafflement. I had seriously thought that at some point, he and I could become friends. Something I had truly believed was a possibility after that first night, but it appeared that I was completely and utterly wrong. By the second phone call he hung up, I had a feeling that all my hopes of a possible friendship with him were unlikely.

I just couldn't understand it. Had I done something to offend him? Did he decide that my inclusion into his family's lives wasn't worth the effort he had to put forth? That was something I understood, I mean … I knew that I was plain, ordinarily boring for a seventeen year old girl. There was nothing to recommend myself to a family of vampires. That is, unless you factored in Thomas, and even then, Thomas's involvement with the Cullen family did not mean that I had to be included too.

I just couldn't help but wish I knew what I had done to upset him; if I could find out, I could try to make it right with him—couldn't I?

That first week of school, I slowly found myself getting into a routine of sorts. I woke up each morning to a grinning Alice in my room. She always stayed just long enough to retrieve the shirt I had slept in, before she headed back home to deliver it to Edward.

And just like we had discussed, both Alice and Emmett drove me to school each day. This was the best part of my day, because regardless of how bad I was feeling, Emmett always had me smiling by the time we got to our destination. For some reason, he loved to tell me raunchy jokes. He said he knew he had succeeded in getting to me if he could make me blush, which I did with each and every one he told.

Why my embarrassment was so entertaining for him, I would never know. And it didn't seem to matter what was bothering me, Emmett just had this innate ability to get my mind off the things that were bothering me. Something I would always be grateful for.

Edward ended up skipping school the rest of the week, which meant I went to biology class every day by myself. It was just one more thing that made me feel guilty, but Alice assured me that this would change next week.

Regardless of Alice's ability to see the future, I wasn't as optimistic as she seemed to be about the situation we found ourselves in.

During Friday's biology class, Mr. Banner explained a new project that was to be worked on with our lab partner. Yeah…that was just my luck, I would be assigned a project that I would have to work side-by-side with my lab partner outside of school hours, when said lab partner wouldn't even get on the phone long enough to have an actual conversation with me.

Mr. Banner went on to explain that all work for the project had to be done outside of class and the assignment made up half of our final grade. He also stated that as a way to guarantee that both partners put work into the project, he made it clear that each person had to write their own report that detailed the findings and their own conclusions to what they discovered.

It was at the end of class that Mr. Banner asked me to stay after, so that he could talk to me.

"Isabella," he said, looking extremely uncomfortable and still seemed to be determined to not call me by my preferred name. "I know you haven't met your lab partner, Mr. Cullen, but are you going to be okay working with him on it?"

"I don't see any problem in working with him," I replied. I could tell that there was something more he wanted to say, but it looked as if he was nervous.

"I know you are new to this school, and that you have come to us after a horrible loss to your family. I'm also very aware that due to Mr. Cullen's absence, you have yet to even meet him, but would you mind being the focal point for your group's project?" he asked, sounding a bit worried about my response to his request.

"I don't mind. I know I haven't met Edward yet, but I've become friends with both Alice and Emmett Cullen. I should be able to work with Edward easily enough." Or at least I hoped so. It could get a bit complicated though, given the fact that he couldn't be near me without wanting to kill me.

Mr. Banner smiled. "That would be wonderful. You have no idea how relieved I am that you joined this class when you did. I had been very worried about assigning this project, knowing that Mr. Cullen had no partner."

I thought about why he would be worried for a moment before it finally dawned on me. "You were worried because of the fact that he was adopted?" I asked him.

"Yes." He seemed a bit embarrassed at confessing that to me. "Nobody really knows this about me, but I too was adopted, and I can understand the limitations that there can be when it comes to information regarding your biological family. For me personally … in my own situation, I have absolutely no information as to who my birth parents even were. Though I've heard that Mr. Cullen was adopted as a child and that he knew his parents for a little while, it may be too painful for him to look back on that time."

"I understand, Mr. Banner, and I am perfectly happy to be the subject for our project," I assured him.

I spent my time during gym class sitting on the bleachers, being extremely pleased with the fact that I had a valid excuse not to participate. I only wished it could last indefinitely.

Since there was nothing else to do during class, I texted back and forth with Thomas about the Biology project. He promised to send me all of the information that I would need for his Higgenbotham side of the family, which only left the Swan side of the family that I would truly have to do some research on.

Thomas reminded me of the package that would be waiting for me when I got home from school. I had no clue what it could be, but he mentioned that he hoped I would be okay in accepting it. He also made me promise to call him before I opened it, so that we could talk about the contents inside the package.

It definitely left me with a feeling dread when I thought about what it could be. Never in a million years would I have been able to guess what it actually was.

"Why so quiet today, Bella?" Emmett asked while he was driving me home.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said quietly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, I was wondering if Edward was acclimated to my scent, yet. We've been assigned a big biology project today that we are to work on with our lab partner. It's a project that has to be worked on completely outside of class, and it's going to make up half of our final grade." After a moment silence, I continued, "I'm fine working on the project by myself, but at some point he will have to write his own paper on my findings. It was one way to make sure that both partners put some effort into the project and I hate to think that my work could inhibit his ability to get the grade he's used to receiving."

Emmett laughed. "Bella, you're too much. Are you telling us that you're more worried about disappointing Edward? That you think he would be upset if he didn't get anything other than a perfect grade on this project? A project, you are technically supposed to be working on together?" When I only nodded, he only laughed some more. "Let me tell you something, Bella, if my brother isn't ready, or man enough to work on this entire project with you, than he's a pansy who deserves whatever he's got coming to him."

"But it's not fair to Edward – if he's in a lot of pain due to how I smell to him," I protested. "Plus, I don't mind doing the work myself."

"No, Bella," he said in a tone that told me I had better listen to him. "What _isn't_ fair, is you doing all of the work for a project the two of you are supposed to work on together. It's not fair to you, if his only involvement in the project is the paper that he has to write himself." He seemed to be really upset about this, though I couldn't understand why that would be. I could tell that he had more to say, so I let him continue. "Yes, I understand that we have been through high school numerous times, but that should not mean that you need to be the only one working on this outside of class. When an assignment counts for half of your final grade, that typically means that most of your time outside of class will be spent working on it. Bella, it's only fair that Edward should have to put some time into this as well."

"Emmett, it seems to me that as soon as Bella explains the assignment to Edward, he will do the right thing. He won't pass all of the work off on to you, Bella, he'll insist on helping," Alice piped in quickly. It seemed she wanted to try and calm Emmett down, who seemed really irritated by our discussion.

"Honestly you two, it's no big deal. I'm fine with working on the majority of this project by myself. If Edward's not ready to be around me, I'm not going to force him to."

"Shut up, Bella!" Emmett scolded me. The tone of his statement was enough to have me close my mouth.

"When you get home you will call my brother. Do you understand me?" I only nodded my agreement before he continued with his instructions. "You will explain the entire assignment to him. In return, Edward will have until the time that I get home to make the right choice about his involvement in this project. If he doesn't make the right choice, he will be having a discussion with my fist."

I was shocked. Would Emmett seriously fight Edward over this?

"Bella, it's not even worth arguing with Emmett on this, because if he wasn't the one to get after Edward about this, I would," Alice said. "Now, go get inside, call my dear brother and explain the assignment. We'll take care of him on our side." When she noticed my eyebrows rise she tacked on, "Only if it's warranted."

I knew I had to give up. There was no point in trying to convince them into letting me do this assignment on my own. I would have to tell Edward about the assignment.

When I got home, I awkwardly got out of the car and used my handy-dandy crutches to help me get in the house. I wanted to stall, and I knew if I let them help me into the house, I would have to make that call much sooner than I wanted to.

I hobbled my way upstairs to my room and noticed that Charlie had been home at some point during the day. On my bed, I found the package Thomas told me about; just one more dreaded item on my to-do list.

My eyes kept looking at the small package on my bed and I could feel my resolve start to break. I knew that if I didn't get the call over with soon I never would, so I pushed away the dread over the package and made the call.

"Hello, Bella," his velvety voice answered the phone on the first ring. The tone surprised me. It was different from the voice I had dealt with over the last few days. I just didn't understand, in that moment, what that change meant.

"Hi. Um…how are you doing today?" I bumbled my way through my greeting, but I felt tongue tied.

"I'm doing quite well." I could hear a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Well, that's good," I said quietly, trying to keep calm. For the life of me, I just couldn't understand why after just two lines I felt myself get irritated with him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was acting as if there had been no awkwardness between us.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call today?" I knew his tone sounded much like the tone I had heard that first night on the phone, but I couldn't help myself from feeling as if his voice was mocking me.

Why was he suddenly being so … _nice?_ With all of the other phone conversations, or attempted phone conversations we had since I sprained my ankle, Edward had been annoyed and angry. There was no kindness, no friendliness in any of our other phone calls. So what suddenly changed today?

I didn't know what he hoped his question would do, but all it succeeded in doing was in making me snap.

"Oh, never mind!" I huffed.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked quickly. He sounded truly flabbergasted by my outburst, but I wouldn't give him the chance to try and say any more.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Well, I'll tell you what's wrong." I could feel the heat of anger run through my body and I threw my crutches across my room. So, he wanted to know what was bothering me? Well I tell him what's bothering me.

"I show up to this town only knowing my dad. My only hope had been that at some point I would get over the grief and guilt I feel over my mom and Phil. On my first day of school I come across your family. Something that I realize should terrify me, but it didn't; instead I felt calmness, because the only other true confidant that I have in my little world is just like all of you, and while you all can't replace him, I somehow don't feel as lonely because I know you're here."

I knew I was probably not making any sense to him, but when I got like this, I exploded like a volcano. I just let everything out in my own diatribe and just hope that in the end it would help me feel better. Majority of the time, I probably didn't make any sense to the other person involved in my outburst, but it was as though I had to purge it all out so that I could feel better–at some point in any case.

"Then … well, after our first meeting in the cafeteria I'm left feeling guilty once again, but this time it has nothing to do with my mom, it has to do with how my scent affects you. So, I decide that I will try to be as nice as I can be about the situation. I offer to change classes so you don't have to skip class all of the time, but no, you assure your family that you will get over whatever aversion it is that you have with me."

I felt my habitual angry tears fill my eyes, the one thing I hated more than the anger itself were the tears I inevitably shed each and every time I got mad. "I do everything I can feasibly do, Edward, to try and help you get to that point. I have at the most, three one-lined phone conversations with you since I injured my ankle, where the longest line you say to me is, 'I need more time', and even that's a guess. To be honest with you, I don't know what you said, but the anger, the animosity I heard come from the phone told me more than enough. Now, I'm left to believe that the friendship I hoped we could have at some point is a lost cause."

"Bella," he tries to interrupt me, but I don't let him.

"Let me finish, Edward. It's the least you can do after your treatment towards me." When he remained quiet, I continued. "Today, I call you, not because I was eager to talk to you, or to be hung up on like all of the other days, but because I needed to inform you of a special project you and I have been assigned to work on together for Biology. A project I was completely willing to work on by myself, but your brother and sister won't allow me to. They said that you would be okay with this, that you could maybe actually participate in this project, but now I'm not so sure I want you to work with me on it."

I began to think that maybe I would just be better off staying away from the Cullens altogether.

"If your problem is my interaction with your family then I will apologize to both you and Rosalie. I am sorry for interfering and from now on I will avoid any and all contact with your family. I will handle this project on my own. I will send you copies of all of my work so you can put together your own god damn paper. "

I couldn't understand where all of this anger was coming from, but I knew that I needed to get off the phone. "You can tell Alice and Emmett that I will arrange for my dad to take me to school until I am able to drive myself." And I hung up the phone.

I had no clue where all of that came from, but there was one thing I did know, Edward didn't deserve any of it. If I hadn't already been so weighed down with my own feelings of guilt, grief and loneliness, I would have been able to handle his sudden change in behavior better than I did.

I gave in and let the angry tears fall, and my attention was once again directed to the package on my bed. I knew it probably wasn't the wisest choice to open it, in that moment, but I needed something to distract me.

I knew that if I called Thomas in this moment, he would instantly know that something was bothering me, and I would never get to the point where I would open the package. So, I opened it by myself.

I gasped in shock at what I found inside the box. Inside was the locket Thomas had given to my great-great grandmother Ruth, after she gave birth to their one and only child. It was a family heirloom that had been passed down through the generations, but with a very specific time frame to when it was passed down. The locket was passed down to the oldest child after the birth of their first child. My gran had given this to my mother the day I was born, and I wasn't supposed to get it until I had a child of my own. Even then, it should have been given to me by my mother, not Thomas.

The fact that I was getting the locket so early made my grief unbearable. I understood now why Thomas had warned me that this item was coming early. It also explained why he would have wanted me to call him before I opened it.

The sad truth was … I was the last possible family member who could receive this; I was the last person Thomas had in his family.

What were once angry tears were now turned into deep guttural sobs that quickly got the better of me. I completely forgot about the anger I had been feeling just moments ago with Edward. Now, I could only concentrate on the heart-wrenching pain that I felt rip through my chest.

I cried over the loss of my mom and Phil.

I cried over the pain her death caused my dad, a man that still after all this time loved her deeply.

I cried for having to leave Thomas behind.

I cried because I was sick and tired of feeling the loneliness I felt deep inside of me.

And I cried because I was just too tired of holding it all in anymore.

I had no idea how long I cried, but at some point I felt cold arms gently, pick me up and place me onto their lap. I could feel my head being placed in the crook of their neck and whoever it was gently began to play with my hair. That action alone reminded me of my mother, she had always done that when I was sad, and knowing that I would never have her here to do that again only made me cry harder.

I had no idea who was holding me, but in that moment I didn't care. It felt good to be held; it was a temporary relief to the pain I felt and I just wanted it to last a little bit longer.

Eventually the tears subsided, but it left me so exhausted that I drifted off to sleep.

****/****

**(Alice POV)**

As soon as I saw Bella getting angry on the phone with Edward, I called Esme.

"Hello."

"Esme, can you do me a favor?" I asked quickly.

"Of course dear, what's wrong?"

"Bella is on the phone right now with Edward."

"Yes, I can hear her getting upset. Is she going to be okay?" Esme asked me in a concerned voice.

"Not really. She could really use someone like you right now. Would you head over to her house? She will need a shoulder to cry on."

While Esme was agreeing to head straight over to Bella's, I heard Emmett growl as his own temper took over.

"Why that stupid, idiotic, no-good-dickwad."

Trying to make light of the situation, even though my own temper was fighting to break through, I tried to distract Emmett. "Dickwad? Really Emmett, I would have figured you could have come up with something more inventive when coming up with nicknames for our brother."

I got a slight upturn of the lips but I could see that it wouldn't help lessen his temper. "Emmett, please let me talk first when we get home. Edward didn't do anything wrong with this phone call, it's just a bubbling up of emotions that has finally caused Bella to get so upset. If at the end of our conversation, you still feel the need to beat him up, you can."

As soon as Emmett pulled up to the house I got started.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you Edward?" I scolded Edward when I got home. It was going to take everything I had to keep Emmett from systematically ripping Edward into shreds right now.

Luckily when we got into the house, Jasper was coming downstairs. I knew that if things got out of hand, Jasper was going to be needed.

When we walked into the living room I saw Edward's face, I could see he was already beating himself up. He didn't need Emmett to step in and make things worse.

"Alice, why is Edward an idiot?" Emmett asked me with a hint of suspicion in his tone. "Did Bella call him or not about the project?"

I could see Emmett look over at Edward with a warning in his gaze that promised retribution if he did anything wrong.

"She didn't get that far. When Bella called, she was so thrown off by Edward's change in demeanor towards her that her emotions just couldn't handle it anymore."

"What do you mean by the change of his demeanor?" He looked over at Edward and asked, "How have you been treating her?" His low predator's voice was viscous and he was starting to lose his ability to restrain himself.

I sighed. "Emmett, he never intentionally treated her badly on the phone this week. You know Edward." When his look only got angrier I continued. "Edward was beating himself up over his own weakness for Bella's scent that she took his curt tone as a rejection. She had no clue that his rude behavior had to do with him coming down hard on what he sees as a weakness of his restraint."

Emmett immediately got into Edward's face. "So let me get this straight and please tell me if I have this wrong." He looked at me and began to explain, "After only knowing Bella for a couple of days, I can already see that it's in her nature to worry about others. She has this need to make sure that the people in her life are okay, a need to try and alleviate whatever pain or unhappiness someone may feel and instead of holding in your own self-contempt towards yourself, you lashed out on Bella when all she wanted to do was call and make sure you were okay?"

When Edward only nodded, I could tell Jasper was trying to help keep Emmett under control and he was having a difficult time with it. I looked over at Jasper and saw how he strained his shoulders were, if we didn't get Emmett calmed down soon, Jasper may even lash out at Edward.

But it was only moments later when suddenly Emmett's shoulders sagged and he looked at me with such pain on his face. "Why didn't you warn me that Edward had been handling these phone calls so poorly? I never would have talked Bella into calling Edward about that stupid Biology project if I had any idea that he had been treating her so unkindly. I would never have knowingly put her in that kind of an uncomfortable position."

I knew he was right, but I didn't realize that Bella was going to internalize everything that Edward had done as a slap against her. "I didn't realize that she was taking his behavior so badly." I looked over at Edward and saw the despair in his eyes. _You really need to start thinking about how your treatment of people can affect the ones around you. Do you realize that by hurting Bella you are hurting Emmett and me, too? We care for her and we would never have urged her to talk to you about this assignment if we knew it was going to cause her to react like this._

He looked at me and winced at my thoughts, but then asked, "What do you mean react like this?"

And I showed him the vision I had of Bella breaking out in tears after her phone conversation.

Edward's face only got more upset with himself. "I have to go talk to her. I have to get her to understand that my anger this week was not meant for her."

I stopped him. "I don't think that's a good idea right now. When I saw her breakdown coming I called Esme and asked her to go be with Bella." He looked at me with a look that said he wanted to fight me on this. "Bella needs the comfort of someone like Esme right now. She needs a mother's love and Esme is the closest one available who can offer that comfort right now. Please Edward, just let Bella have some time."

**(Esme POV)**

Bella was beyond devastated right now, understandably so, especially when you took into consideration everything she had gone through in such a short amount of time. I was surprised she hadn't had more breakdowns, or maybe she had and Alice just hadn't seen them.

When Alice called during Edward and Bella's phone conversation and told me that after Bella got off the phone she was going to need someone there to comfort her, I didn't hesitate. I ran to the Swan residence in hopes that I would be able to help her when she needed it.

What I found broke my heart. I found Bella in her room, lying on the bed in a fetal position with her hand grasping a necklace of some kind. I saw the packaging paper and assumed she had just gotten it that day and whatever it was had probably caused the majority of this breakdown and my son's behavior was just a starting point.

I didn't even think before I acted, I just rushed over to her and put her in my lap so that she could cry into my shoulder. I did what any mother would have done to a heartbroken daughter—I rubbed her back and played with her hair, hoping that it would help to calm her down.

It took a while, but eventually she cried herself out and ended up falling into a peaceful sleep. Not wanting to startle her when she woke up, I laid her gently on the bed and covered her with an extra blanket I found at the end of her bed.

I felt my cell phone vibrate, so I very quietly answered, "Hello?"

"Esme, you've got to let me speak to Bella. I have to apologize to her. I never meant for her to think that I didn't like her. I have to convince her that she is welcome to spend time with our family. That she doesn't have to stop all contact with us because I was so rude earlier. Please Esme…please let me speak to her," Edward begged on the other line.

"Edward, I don't think that would be a very good idea," I spoke quietly so I wouldn't disturb Bella's rest.

"But Esme, I have to apologize," Edward begged. "I don't think I can handle it if she hates me. I never meant to make her feel as though I didn't like her. I was just trying to be cautious."

"Edward, you weren't being careful with her, every time you spoke to her over the last couple of days you have been nothing but rude." He tried to cut in, but I stopped him, "The tone you used towards her was so angry, so hateful I'm not surprised that she became suspicious and angry when you were finally being nice. You have to understand that she's not just dealing with your issues over her scent."

"I know that, Esme," Edward whispered.

"Please let me finish, Edward. I need to say this."

"Okay, I'm sorry for interrupting." I could hear the sadness in his voice and I wavered for a minute. I knew he never meant to hurt her but it was something that he was going to have to deal with.

"Edward, in the last month she has lost her mother, an event that is hard enough under normal circumstances but to factor in the way her mom was killed, it just makes it all the more difficult to accept. She has had to move away from her home; in addition to that, she left her closest confidant that she has ever had so that she can come live with her dad. Now don't get me wrong, I know she loves her dad, but moving in with someone you haven't lived with since you were a baby is going to take some time for adjustment. And that doesn't even delve into the fact that she also has to adjust to a new school and all new classmates. That's a lot for one person to have to deal with and she doesn't need you and Rosalie's temperamental and childish behavior adding to the stress she's already under."

"I know Esme, I know, but you need to let me apologize to her," he begged.

"I can't Edward, she cried herself to sleep. You need to give her time. I think there was more to this breakdown than just you. It appears she got a package from Thomas, and I think whatever it is that she got from him caused most of the tears that she cried this afternoon." Not wanting to let him totally off the hook until he put things right with Bella, I added, "But that doesn't mean you can get away with the way you have treated her this week. Your behavior towards her did not help the situation."

I sighed. "At some point, Edward, you're going to have to realize your actions affect more than just yourself. The fact that I know you so well, I know that the anger you conveyed when you talked to Bella earlier this week was actually self-inflicted and not meant for Bella, but Bella didn't know that. She heard your anger and instantly thought she had done something to offend you."

Finally, after a few more minutes of talking Edward down from coming over here to apologize, I got off the phone. I spent my time watching Bella sleep peacefully. I could see her forehead scrunch up whenever her dreams took her someplace she found unsettling.

A little while later, I went and sat down in her rocking chair and decided I would give Thomas a call. I had yet to talk to him, but I thought if I understood what he sent to Bella, the significance of it, I may have been able to help ease her pain.

"Hello," Thomas answered.

"Hello, Thomas, this is Esme Cullen."

"Oh. Hi Esme, how are you doing?" he asked, sounding a bit awkward.

"I'm doing fine." I felt a bit shy on how to ask, but I decided it was probably best to just get it over with. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I could ask you a question about Bella."

"That's fine." He seemed a bit happier at the idea of talking about Bella, which helped me feel more comfortable with the call. "Ask me anything you like."

"Did you send something of a sentimental nature to Bella?" I asked, hoping that he wouldn't get upset by my question.

"Actually, I did," he answered in a sad voice. "She was supposed to call me before she answered it so that we could discuss what it was." Thomas took a deep breath before he continued, "If I had to venture a guess I would have to assume that she opened it on her own?"

"Yes."

"She broke down, didn't she?" Without giving me even a second to answer his question, he went on. "I should have known that would happen. I knew she may be upset to get this so early, but I thought that would be it. Is she okay?" he asked, sounding helpless.

"I think she is dealing with a lot of emotions, and they just got to be more than she can handle today. I came over as soon as Alice informed me of Bella breaking down in her room. She has cried herself to sleep, but I wanted to check with you to see if there was anything I could do to help make this easier on her."

Thomas sighed, "That's very nice of you, Esme. I am indebted to you, for your kindness."

"No debt is owed, Thomas. Bella is a very special girl who has gone through more than anyone should have to deal with in such a short span of time. I would do anything to help her get through this," I explained.

Bella really was the most kindhearted person I had ever had the privilege of meeting. If I could help her in any way possible, I would.

"Bella was right about you," Thomas said. "When she gave me a description of each of you, she told me how loving and nurturing you were. She told me how you helped take care of her when she injured her ankle. Thank you."

"I was happy to help," I told him, and I was; I had a feeling that Bella was an intricate part of my family's future happiness. I would do anything within my power to guarantee that she was okay.

"Now you're probably wondering about the gift I sent?" he asked.

"Only if you're willing to tell me, I only want to know what you're comfortable telling me."

"That's fine, Esme, I don't mind telling you. The locket I sent to Bella is a family heirloom. I gave this locket to my wife, Ruth, right after the birth of our son, Daniel. When Daniel and his wife Katie Sue had their first born, Mary, my wife passed it on to Katie. It has made a similar passing with each and every generation. The fact that Bella is receiving it now by me, instead of her mom, was probably upsetting to her. I broke the tradition doing it the way I did." He sighed frustrated, and then continued, "I never wanted her to get upset. I should have waited to give it to her when I got up there, but I wanted her to have a piece of us with her, now, instead of later. I thought it might be helpful having a piece of her mom with her."

"I understand, Thomas. You wanted her to know she was loved and that her connection to your family will never break. It was a very thoughtful idea and it may have transpired differently if she hadn't just had an argument with Edward," I confessed to him. He had a right to know that there were some difficulties between Bella and Edward, nothing that I could see being a long term problem, but something that was a concern nonetheless.

"What kind of an argument did she have with Edward? What happened?" I could hear the concern and a sound of protectiveness come into his voice. Once Thomas got to town, Edward was going to have to tread carefully when it came to how he treated Bella.

"Did Bella tell you what transpired the first day at school?" I asked, wondering how much he knew.

"She didn't, but your husband told me that Edward had to leave right away due to his reaction to Bella's scent. That you all were working with him, by exposing him to Bella's scent on a round-the-clock basis so that he could get acclimated to her. Is that correct?" he asked.

"That is correct. Each day, at least twice a day, Alice is bringing Edward something with Bella's scent attached to it so that he has constant exposure. He has stayed away from school during this time, not wanting to inflict any harm to her."

"That makes sense, and I'm extremely grateful that you are all working with him on this, but why did they get into an argument?" he asked, sounding confused.

"Well there is something you should know about my son. He has a tendency to beat himself up when he feels that he is not handling something the way he thinks he should. All week long he has been in a miserable mood, angry with himself and every time Bella would call him to check and see how he was doing, he would be so caught up with his own hatred he never realized how rude he was acting on the phone. Unfortunately, Bella didn't realize that his anger was not meant towards her, but was directed towards himself."

"Let me guess, she had enough of his behavior and she went off on him?" Thomas asked with a chuckle.

"Actually, it was his change in demeanor with today's phone call that set her off, though I think it was the final straw for her. My son, Jasper, had mentioned that he has felt her emotions getting more unsettling throughout the week, what with starting a new school, injuring herself, not to mention the fact that she is still dealing with her mother's death, I can fully understand why she would finally breakdown."

"Esme, what happened with today's phone call?" he asked me.

"Today's was Edward's first day of handling Bella's scent with any form of true restraint. When Bella called him, his happiness…well, I guess you could say it was the straw that broke the camel's back," I admitted.

"Is Edward going to apologize to her?"

"Yes. In fact he called me begging to have the chance to apologize a little while ago, but I thought it was best for her to rest."

"I had gotten a little blip that Bella was angry about something, but at the time I was meeting with the realtor regarding her mom's house. I wasn't able to get away and in fact had just gotten off the phone with him a couple of minutes ago."

"Have you had any luck?"

"Actually, a young couple is interested in buying it. They hope to make several renovations to try giving the place a new sense of beginnings, but I think we will be able to close as early as next week."

"That's wonderful. Does that mean you'll be able to come up here soon after?"

"I'm hoping to move into a little house I found online in Port Angeles by the end of next week." I could hear the happiness in his voice when he said that. I was sure he was very anxious to get closer to Bella.

"What about your own house that you have down there?"

"I'm actually going to be renting it out. I figured that I should keep the place, in case one day Bella ever wants to return to the Phoenix area."

And I was sure, Bella being his only living relative that he would want to ensure her happiness. I could only imagine how lonely he was being separated from her right now.

"Will you let us know if you need anything? It doesn't matter what it is. If you want some help with the move to Port Angeles, or if you need something for Bella, please don't hesitate to ask."

"That's very kind of you, but I don't want to take advantage of your kindness."

"You wouldn't be doing anything of the sort. Most of my family already considers Bella a part of the family, which means you are, too. We help and look out for our family so I want you to take my offer seriously. Please?" I requested.

"Thank you, Esme. That means the world to us."

"Did you want me to have Bella give you a call when she wakes up?"

"Let her know that I'm here to talk if she wants to when she wakes up. A lot of the time she has to work out her feelings on her own before she will open up to anybody else. Bella has a selfless nature, and she'll do whatever she feels she needs to do in order to protect the feelings of others. There are some days that she will be very quiet, she'll refuse to open up but once she's ready she will talk to me about it." He paused for a moment before he continued. "Renee always said she was a lot like Charlie in that way. She will agonize over a decision or work her way through her emotions, but once she's settled regardless of what it is, she is for the most part fine."

Though I understood her need to protect the ones she loved, I just hoped she didn't let herself hurt too much before she would finally turn to someone.

"If you could also let her know that I have sent her the items she needs for our side of the family for her Biology project?"

"Of course I will." This must be the project I heard her mention for a moment while she was talking to Edward on the phone.

"Thank you again, Esme, for everything."

"You're welcome. I'll talk to you later, Thomas."

"Bye."

* * *

Yes...I finally updated. It must mean that a miracle has taken place. I can come up with a list full of excuses, but I won't bore you.

Thank you for reading:)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 6 **

(Bella's POV)

When I woke up from my emotionally exhausting slumber, I was comforted with the feeling of someone lightly brushing their fingers through my hair. It was so relaxing, but at the same time, it was very confusing.

Who on earth was in my room?

I felt so foggy that it took me a couple of minutes to finally open my eyes. I was surprised to find myself staring into the kind eyes of Esme Cullen.

"Esme, what…" I must have looked scared – Esme cut me off before I could say anything else.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, Bella," Esme began, "But I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

I remembered my phone conversation with Edward and cringed at the memory. "Is Edward mad at me?"

That question seemed to surprise her. "Why in God's name would Edward be mad at you, dear? You did nothing wrong."

She must not have known how horribly I had treated him. "But I lashed out at him."

She looked at me with her kind eyes and for some reason my panic was instantly comforted by what I saw in them. "Oh Bella, you had every reason in the world to get fed up with his behavior. Over the last couple of days his treatment of you … though it may have been unintentional, it was still horrendous. In the eyes of the rest of my family, you have been labeled a saint in how long you were able to put up with him."

No longer wanting to lay down, I sat up against the headboard of my bed. "I just didn't understand what I had done to have him hate me so much," I whispered. "Then all of a sudden this afternoon, his mood was like it had been the first day I had spoken to him on the phone. I didn't understand what was going on … and I think I just got a little overwhelmed."

Esme moved to sit right next to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Edward does not hate you – not at all. He feels awful that you were under that assumption." She sighed before continuing, "I think I should probably explain something to you about Edward."

"What?" I was curious to find out what Esme had to say. I wanted to understand who Edward was; there was something inside me that almost craved to know more about him.

"He's scared," she sighed in a way that almost said the information should be obvious.

"Scared? Scared of what?" I asked, confused.

"Bella, you have no idea how much my family already cares for you, Edward included. I think that is why Edward is so desperate to overcome this weakness he seems to have with your scent. It would absolutely kill him if he somehow lost control and hurt you."

It didn't make sense that this family, any of them, would care for me. When it came down to it, they'd barely known me more than a few days. Were a few days really enough time for this family to care about me? I wasn't so sure, especially when I thought about the hatred I felt coming from Rosalie. "Okay, some of what you just said may be true, I honestly wouldn't know, but one thing I think I do know for a fact is that Rosalie hates me."

Esme sighed, "She doesn't hate you, she just doesn't trust easily. Rosalie is a very private person, but I think she also worries more than. Her temper and rude behavior are defense mechanisms for her fear that something will happen to put our family in jeopardy." Esme bent her head down and whispered, "Just give her time."

Could I give them time? Did I want to put myself out there and risk getting hurt if somebody else I cared about wound up being taken away from me?

If I was being painfully honest with myself, I knew that I already cared for them more than I ever thought possible. When you considered the fact that I had just met them earlier that week, it didn't seem probable that I could already care for them this much. I already felt extremely close to Alice and Emmett; it was as though I had always known them, but something inside of me also wanted to be close to Edward. I wondered if that may be why I was so hurt by his behavior this week. Deep down inside, I knew that if I followed through with my promise to Edward to stay away from his, I would hurt my already broken heart.

"I spoke to Thomas while you were sleeping," I heard Esme say, which quickly got my attention focused back on her.

"You did?" I was nervous to find out what Thomas said. In my heart I hoped he didn't see my breakdown.

"I hope you don't mind. When you fell asleep, I wondered if there was more to your tears than finally having enough of Edward's behavior. I saw the locket in your hand and the packaging on your bed and thought that I could maybe help you in some way if I understood what was going on." She looked a bit nervous when she told me this, like I would be angry – maybe I would have been if I hadn't seen the concern in her eyes. "Thomas told me the significance of the locket, and he felt so bad that you hadn't called him before you opened it. He had hoped to help you through the sadness of receiving this today."

"I know I should have called him, but when I got off the phone with Edward, I was just so angry. I wasn't thinking straight, and I just ripped into the package. Then when I saw what it was, I totally lost it." Thinking back to my breakdown, I also remembered the cold arms that had wrapped me up in their arms. That must have been Esme, which gave my chest a feeling of warmth to know that she dropped everything to come and comfort me.

I leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Esme. Thank you for coming over and making sure I was okay." I looked down and whispered, "It felt nice to be held."

"Oh Bella, you don't need to thank me for anything," she explained. "I will be here to give you a hug anytime you are in need; you just have to ask."

"Why?"

"Because the truth of the matter is, Bella, my family has already changed for the better. This may only be my second time around you, but I already think of you as one of my children." She confessed, and at those words, I felt both comforted and little bit guilty all at the same time.

I felt comforted knowing that she considered me, another one of her children. But at the same time I felt guilty because my mom had just died the month before and I was already finding a replacement. Was my mom looking down on me in that moment feeling like I had betrayed her memory, or was she happy that I had found someone I could take comfort in? I had no idea what to do with this information; I was so confused.

Esme gave me a knowing look. "I know you may not be ready to think of me in that way – and you may never be quite ready for something like that, but I'm okay with that." She looked me in the eye and brushed a few stray hairs away from my face. "I'll be here whenever you need, in whatever capacity you need me. It doesn't matter if you're in the need of a hug, an ear to talk to, or you find yourself in the need of some company on one of your more difficult days. I'll be here. All you have to do is call. Okay?" she asked.

"Okay." I felt the sting of more tears trying to break free, but I fought them back. "I honestly don't know what it would have been like to be here if I hadn't met your family. I was planning on just trying to pretend that I was okay; try to get through each day as it came, but then I saw your family and I knew I wasn't alone anymore."

"You're never alone, sweetheart. You have your dad, Thomas and my family here for you whenever you need us."

"Can you tell Edward that I'm sorry?" I asked sheepishly. I knew she had said that my reaction was to be expected, but I still felt bad for the way I had reacted.

Esme sighed, whether in frustration or resignation at my request, I wasn't sure. "Yes, I will tell him. If that is what you truly want me to do."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear. When you fell asleep I put the locket on your dresser, so that it wouldn't get lost or broken." She walked over to my dresser and picked up the delicate necklace so that she could hand it to me; I noticed that while she did this, she also studied the locket. "This locket is very pretty," she stated. "Thomas did a very good job when he picked it out for your Great-Great Grandmother."

"Yeah, he did. He told me that he saved for months to have enough money to buy her something special. He even helped build some new shelves for the General Store in their town they had moved to after they got married. He had wanted to be able to give her a gift when their child was born, something that could be passed throughout the generations."

Esme smiled at me. "He did a very good job in his selection. Is there a photo inside?"

I nodded. "You can look if you want to. Inside are pictures of my Great-Great Grandparents."

When she looked inside, I could see her smile grow wider on her face. "What a lovely couple," she said, before looking up into my eyes. "You resemble her."

"Yeah, I know … my mom and I both did. According to Thomas, my mom even had the same hair and eye color that Great-Great Grandma Ruth had. I always wondered if it sometimes hurts Thomas to see that resemblance in us," I wondered aloud.

"I don't think it would. In fact, I think the similarities you share with her probably comforts him in the simple fact that a piece of her still lives on in you."

I couldn't help the grin that formed on my face. Esme was so good at making me feel good; she was a born mother.

"Would you help me put it on?" I asked. I wanted to feel that connection to my mom and the rest of the family, and I figured the weight of it against my chest would help.

"Of course I will."

When she finished clasping the necklace, I whispered, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, dear. Now, I think I should probably get home." She started to stand up from the bed. "I think Thomas is eager to talk to you."

"I'll call him in a minute." I looked over at the clock and noticed that I had been sleeping for a couple of hours. "Is my dad home?"

"He came home a little bit ago."

"Did you talk to him?" I asked, curious as to what she may have told Charlie.

"No, I hid in your closet when he came upstairs to check on you. When he saw that you were asleep he went back downstairs to write you a note before he left."

"Huh, I wonder where he went," I wondered.

"According to the note he wrote, he went to Harry Clearwater's house to watch a basketball game. The note also said that if you were interested in joining him, all you had to do was call and he'd give you directions to their home."

Pretending to be interested in a basketball game was not exactly something that I wanted to deal with. "I don't think I'm up for going to his friend's house. Maybe I'll try to find the information about the Swan side of the family that I need for the Biology project." Mentioning the Biology project reminded me that I still needed to tell Edward about it. "Could you tell Edward that I will try to give him a call later? I need to call Thomas before it gets much later so he doesn't worry about me."

Esme smiled. "I will." She started to walk out of my room before she stopped and tagged on, "Please come by the house soon. I would really like to spend more time with you, Bella."

I smiled back at her. "Thank you, Esme. I'd like that too."

I took my phone off the bedside table and called Thomas.

"Bella, are you okay?" His worried voice came over the phone.

"Hi, Pops." I winced after I said it. I had just in two words given him a clue to my emotional climate. I only called him Pops when I was really down; it was the only time I would drop the pretense, because in that moment I was unable to pretend that he was just my adopted uncle. When I was depressed, he needed to be who he really was … my Pops.

"Oh Bella, did I screw up that badly by sending you the locket?" He sounded devastated.

"It was a combination of a lot of things," I explained. "This has been a very emotionally exhausting week with everything going on; new school, kids staring at me because I'm the new kid, but also staring at me because of the crutches. Then there are the whispers, I either overhear them whispering about how bad they feel for me because of what happened to mom and Phil, or their whispering because they hope I'll spill all of the gory details."

"Esme told me about the blow up with Edward. Isn't he a part of you breakdown?"

"Maybe a little … it's definitely not something I'm proud of, that's for sure. I feel awful for verbally attacking him like I did," I confessed.

"It was only to be expected after how your phone calls had gone over the last couple of days." I could hear some strain in his voice, but I wasn't sure if it was disappointment in my behavior or anger at Edward. "Has Edward apologized for his part in all of this?" he asked.

"I just woke up a little bit ago and got done talking to Esme. I wasn't ready to call Edward yet. I wanted to talk to you first," I admitted.

"About the locket?" he asked, which caused me to lightly touch the locket with my fingertips.

"Not really. I wanted to apologize to you for not calling first."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I was just so upset and emotionally drained from the last couple of weeks that I just opened it without thinking about what it could have been," I conceded. "If I had taken the time to think about it, I probably would have realized what it was you had sent to me."

"I just wanted to give you something of our families to hold onto until I can get up there to you." He seemed sad, and it broke my heart that I was the cause of some of that.

"I have news," he said, probably trying to change the subject to help get my mind off things.

"What kind of news?"

"We've gotten an offer on the house."

"Wow, really? Did you accept the offer?"

"Yes, I've accepted the offer and am making arrangements to leave as soon as we're done with the closing."

That bit of news instantly put a smile on my face. "How soon is the closing?"

"I had hoped that we could have this done as early as next week, but the buyer's asked if the closing could be at the end of the month, so … if everything goes according to plan I should be in Washington the first week of February."

I was bouncing with happiness by the time he finished telling me his news. "Do you know where you're going to live once you get up here?"

"I've made some inquires on a house just outside Port Angeles. It looks like a small cottage but it's just inside the forest and will keep me somewhat secluded from everyone else in town."

"It sounds perfect, when should you find out anything?" I asked, getting more eager by the minute for him to finally get here.

"The realtor said I should hear something no later than Monday; it appears that the owners of the house are currently out of town and should be back sometime this weekend."

I knew that I was grinning like a fool, but I didn't care. I was the only person in the house and no one could see me in that moment. "Promise you'll let me know as soon as you know for sure."

"I will, and call me next time you feel this way. I want to help you – be there for you know matter what it's about."

I promised him that I would call him before it got to be too much, and he let me go. I wasn't quite ready to call Edward so I decided to hobble my way downstairs to make myself some soup for supper, but when I got downstairs I noticed that there was a bowl of hot soup already waiting for me on the kitchen table.

"Alice?" I was confused as to why she was in my kitchen.

"Hello, Bella." She smiled and urged me to sit down and eat. "When I saw that you were going to make yourself some soup, I thought I could bring some to you. I hope you don't mind."

It really was sweet of her to do this, because in that moment, I didn't have any interest in cooking, even if it was just heating up a bowl of soup in the microwave. "Thank you, Alice; I really appreciate it." When I finally made my way over to the table and sat down, I asked, "Did you make the soup?"

She giggled. "No, I picked it up at the diner – I hope you don't mind."

"Mmmm, it's good," I said after taking a bite. "Thank you." I really appreciated her kindness. "Are you here to talk about what happened earlier on the phone?"

"Partly," she answered. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay … and I promised to help."

"Help with what?" I asked, not quite sure what she meant by that.

"Edward would like to apologize to you, and he asked if I could be here as a way to help make you more comfortable in his presence."

That surprised me. I looked around almost expecting Edward to appear out of nowhere. When I didn't see any sign of him, I realized that he either wasn't here yet, or Alice was here for support as Edward and I spoke on the phone. But before any of that could happen, I wanted to talk to Alice.

"Before we get into that, can I apologize to you first?"

"What?" She asked, surprised by my question.

"I feel I owe you and Emmett an apology for telling Edward that I would stay away from your family." I frowned at the memory of that part of the phone call. "I hope you know that I don't want to stay away from your family. I … well, I really like your family, and I love spending time with you."

Alice grinned. "Don't be silly, Bella. You don't owe us an apology for that. I knew you didn't mean any of it. Emmett and I still plan on bringing you to school, unless…"

"Unless what?" I asked, curious as to what she was about to say.

"Oh nothing… Don't worry about it." She brushed my question off quickly before she asked, "Would you mind if Edward came over?"

"Will he be okay? I don't want him to be too uncomfortable," I quickly said.

"He'll be fine – I've seen it." She beamed a huge smile at me. "That is one of the reasons he was so happy to talk to you earlier."

"Why's that?"

"He finally has a handle of his control with your scent."

I grinned at her. "Really, he'll be okay?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, yeah, it's fine with me if he wants to come over." As soon as I said the last word there was a knock at the door. I turned and looked at Alice. "That's him, isn't it?" I asked, while I felt the start of a blush form on my cheeks.

She nodded. "Actually, it's Edward and Emmett."

I heard the front door open. "Yo, Bella, did you want us standing outside all night, or can we come in?"

"Come in," I called, trying not to laugh at Emmett.

Emmett barreled into the kitchen and picked me up into a huge bear hug. "I'm sorry, Bella. If I had known you were at your limit with my brother's moodiness, I never would have forced you to call him."

"It's okay, Emmett. It's not your fault that I lost it." After Emmett put me down, I looked up and noticed Edward standing at the entryway of my kitchen looking sad and a bit nervous.

"Hello, Bella," he said quietly.

"Hi, Edward, how are you doing? Are you okay?" I asked, worried about him being uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, Bella. How are you?"

"I'm doing better. I'm sorry for my reaction this afternoon. I reacted really poorly, and I'm really sorry for yelling at you like that." I was so nervous that I had ruined all chances of us having a friendship.

"Bella, you had every right to talk to me like that. I'm the one who needs to apologize for the way I've treated you the last few days. I was so absorbed in my own feelings that I never realized how I was treating you. Can you forgive me?" he asked me.

"Of course I can." I smiled reassuringly at him, and he smiled back at me. When he smiled, I felt my heart start to race and my cheeks grow warm in an automatic reaction to his smile.

"I brought you something. I hope you like it," Edward said and stepped forward. That was when I noticed his right arm had been hiding behind his back. When he brought his arm out in front of him, I noticed a bouquet of the most beautiful gerbera daisies I had ever seen.

"You brought me flowers?" I asked in astonishment. When he nodded, I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. "Did you know that gerbera daisies are my absolute favorite?" The happy flowers instantly brightened my day and left me feeling almost giddy inside.

"I spoke to Thomas on the phone," he confessed. "I asked him if there was anything I could do to bring a smile to your face, and he suggested these."

My hand outstretched slowly so that I wouldn't startle him with too much of my scent and accidentally brushed a few of his fingers with my own when I took the flowers. The moment my fingers touched his, I was shocked to feel an electric charge surge through my body; it felt as though it went straight to my chest, and I gasped in shock. I had no clue what had happened, but whatever it was, I felt like a part of my heart had somehow mended back together again.

"What? What's wrong?" Emmett asked, nervous that I had somehow been hurt.

Edward's eyes looked as startled as I knew mine must have shown in that moment. "I don't know. I just felt a shock…"

"You felt it, too?" Edward asked, amazed.

"You felt that?" I asked, equally surprised. I didn't think vampires could get shocked like humans could. It must have been some really strong static electricity for him to have felt it, too.

"Felt what? I don't understand," Emmett said, sounding exasperated to not know what had just transpired.

I looked over at Alice while she grinned at the two of us. "There is nothing to worry about, Emmett."

It took a minute, but Emmett's curiosity eventually dropped away. The most confusing thing that happened was the way Edward's eyes bugged out in surprise at something he must have heard in Alice's thoughts, because it took a long time before he looked back at me. But when he did look my way, it made my heart flutter with a warmth it had never felt before. I don't know how long I stared into his beautiful topaz eyes, but eventually I heard Alice clear her throat to get our attention. "You may want finish you soup before it gets cold."

"Right," I said and made my way back to the table.

Alice took the flowers out of my hand and proceeded to put them into some water for me.

While I finished my soup, the other three joined me at the table. I took that as the perfect time to explain the Biology project to Edward. I told him how Mr. Banner wanted me to be the subject for the assignment and why he had made that request. I then explained that we basically had to put together my genetic history by going through my family tree as a way to determine which ancestors I may have received my physical features, habits and personality traits from. In addition to all of that I needed to detail a full medical history outlining any possible medical problems I may be susceptible to.

I wasn't sure what it was about the assignment, but something about it excited Edward. He seemed extremely eager to get started on it and was a bit disappointed when I didn't have all of the information we needed to be able to get started with it in that moment.

(Edward POV)

Without a shadow of doubt, I considered the last ninety minutes that I spent in Bella's kitchen to have been the best moments of my life.

Quite simply I was in awe of Bella Swan. I found her to be the most beautiful, caring, generous, sweet and brave creature I had ever come in contact with. Before I came to her house, I had no hope that she could ever forgive me for my behavior. She had every right in the world to want nothing to do with me, but the first thing she did after finding out I was okay, was apologizing for yelling.

As far as I was concerned, Bella could yell at me anytime she wanted to. I would gladly accept any type of interaction I could get from her, regardless of what it may be.

I had become so focused on my own thoughts that I was surprised when I heard my brother speak.

"What the hell just happened back there?" Emmett asked.

I thought back to what had occurred in the kitchen. I was still too surprised by it all to be able to talk about it aloud to anyone. When I thought about it, I still felt the electrical surge of warmth, joy and peace that coursed through my body as soon as our fingers touched, and in that moment I knew I had been changed forever. It was like a light switch had been flipped, and in that moment, I understood why I had already felt protective of her. How I wanted nothing more than to be by her side after only being in her presence for a few moments that first day in the school cafeteria. Why I had been so angry with myself those first days while I tried to get acclimated to her intoxicating aroma.

"Well … is anyone going to explain to me what the hell just happened back there?" Emmett asked again. I could hear the frustration in his tone.

Alice probably realized that I was in no state to answer just yet, so she looked over to Emmett who was fidgeting in the passenger seat of my Volvo and whispered, "First spark."

I snorted when I saw Emmett's mouth drop open as he whipped his head in my direction to stare at me. After a minute of staring, a huge grin appeared on his face.

"No way – dude, that's awesome!" Emmett exclaimed.

I just shrugged my shoulders. It felt wonderful and scary at the same time, and I wasn't quite ready to talk about any of it yet, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to stop anyone else if they felt so inclined.

_Edward, I don't know what you're thinking, but it isn't anything to be wary of. This is a good thing. Please listen to me – don't overanalyze any of this,._ Alice begged in her thoughts.

"I'll try, Alice, but no promises," I replied as truthfully as I possibly could. I really couldn't say where my mind would go when I tried to understand any of it. Sure, I was prone to over-think, to overreact at times, but in that moment I felt hopeful. Hope that I would no longer be alone in this life. Hope that somebody as wonderful as Bella could maybe care for me, let alone fall in love with me.

I highly doubted that she was in love with me in that moment, but I hoped that someday in the near future that possibility would become a fact.

"What can't you promise?" Emmett asked. "Aren't you happy? This is awesome news."

I sighed. "I'm beyond happy, Emmett. In fact, I feel like I'm floating on air right now, but that doesn't mean that I'm not worried about what all this means."

"Why does it have to mean anything bad, bro?"

Alice took that moment to say something. "This is a very good thing, Edward. If you realize now that this involves the two of you and that Bella has just as much say in all of this that you do, things will work out." I was about to say something, but she stopped me. "If you make all the decisions yourself, then this will only end in heartbreak for both of you."

She showed me the pain on Bella's face if I dared to try to keep her away from me. The look on her face alone was enough to make me feel as though my heart was being ripped in two.

Alice continued, "Bella is the only human who could possibly understand the dangers, the risks, and the blessings associated with being involved with a vampire. You would do well to trust her to tell you the truth."

"What's your plan of action?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know." I was truly at a loss for words. I had never been in a situation like that before. I had never wanted, or hoped, for anything like I had already started to want and hope when it came to Bella.

"It's so new – I think it would be best to just get to know each other," Alice said. "I think Bella felt something, too, but with everything that she has had to deal with in the last month, she may not yet realize or may not be ready for what it is that she's feeling. Give her time to get to know you, to get through some of the mourning she's still dealing with before you broach the subject of being mates."

"Should I talk to Thomas about what happened?" I wondered. I remember the phone call that I had with Thomas earlier. He called me only moments after getting off the phone with Esme, and let's just say he wasn't very happy with me – that's for sure. He seemed to take it easy on me for some reason though. I was very surprised by his reaction, but would that all change now? Would he even allow me to have any interaction with Bella? Would I, if I was in Thomas's shoes? To be perfectly honest, I don't think I would. I would probably want to keep Bella a thousand miles away from any vampire who attempted to claim Bella as their mate.

Alice nodded. "Yes, I think you should."

"Just know this, little bro," Emmett started to warn. "If you ever do anything to break Bella's heart, you won't have just Thomas to deal with. I'll be right there with him to pummel your ass."

"I will gladly let you do whatever you want to me if I ever hurt Bella," I responded to his threat.

"You seemed really eager to get started on the Biology project. It was as though Bella had no reason to be worried about telling you about any of this earlier today." Alice seemed on the brink of laughter. "Why so eager?"

"I want to know everything about Bella, and this project gives me the perfect excuse to find out as much about her as I possibly can. I get to find out about her family history, to find out from whom she got her smile, her beautiful eyes, not to mention who she got her generous, caring nature. I get to find out all of that through this project." I had a million questions flowing in my head, questions that I wanted answered, and if I could manage it, I would find out the answers to every single one of them before the end of the project.

"She's got her dad's eyes," Emmett stated.

"Yeah, but who did he get his eyes from. This project will hopefully allow me to find out everything I could hope to find out about Bella."

"I get the funny feeling that we will all learn some very important things from this project," Alice stated. I could tell that she had gotten some visions, but they were just flashes of color and light; nothing concrete could be discerned from them.

"What's going on with your visions, Alice? Why do they seem so weird?" I asked. I was concerned over what those strange visions could have meant.

"I don't know what it is … I just get the feeling that it's important." She paused for a moment before she continued, "I think there are too many variables right now for me to be able to discern what is to come."

"How about you're other visions?" Emmett asked. "Have you been able to see anything about those nomads who killed Bella's mom and stepdad?"

"They seem to still be in the south." I saw visions of them in a deserted area. It seemed as though the leader of their group was frustrated about something. "I can't tell if they are still down in the south because of Thomas, or if they are undecided on where else to look."

"Do you think they were after information about Thomas when they attacked?" I asked, concerned that they may come to Forks at some point.

"I don't know …" Alice trailed off for a moment. "For some reason I can't see Thomas, I'm not sure why, but it makes me nervous that I will be unable to stop their next attack if they do find him."

Alice seemed more than nervous at the prospect that Thomas may be in danger. I couldn't tell from her thoughts whether it had to do with a fear of what could happen when Thomas finally moved to Washington and how it would affect her ability to see visions of Bella. Or if it was this weird connection she felt for Bella and her mom.

A part of me wondered if Alice had somehow known Thomas at some point, whether it was when she was still human or early on in her life as a vampire. There would be no way to confirm whether she had known him during her human life, since she had no memory from that time, but nonetheless it was interesting to contemplate.

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Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

I would like to thank the people at Project Team Beta, for helping me with this chapter. Your skills are supurb!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter****7**

**(Edward's POV)**

When we got back to the house, the rest of the family kept themselves busy doing different things on the main level. While Rosalie was flying through the TV channels trying to find anything worthwhile to watch, Jasper had kept himself busy reading a novel debating tactical battle plans throughout history. The only ones who seemed eager about our return were Esme and Carlisle.

"Son, how did things go?" Carlisle asked, obviously concerned about my ability to be near Bella.

"Things went well," I murmured, hoping they wouldn't push for more.

_Well,_Emmett snorted in amusement. "I'd say they went a little better than well." I glared. Emmett was having way too much fun at my expense.

Esme and Carlisle seemed both pleased and confused by Emmett's jovial mood. "What are we missing?" Carlisle asked.

Alice walked over to the couch and sat next to Esme. "Emmett's right, things went better than expected," she told them with a look of happiness on her face. "He brought her flowers and apologized for his behavior over the last couple of days." Alice looked at me and smiled, giving me a false sense of security. For one peaceful second I thought I was in the clear; I believed I would be allowed to broach the subject of my feelings for Bella … but of course I was so wrong.

Before I had time to react, Emmett decided to have some fun at my expense. "Once upon a time, in the rainy town of Forks, lived a young vampire named Edward."

I saw amusement in Carlisle and Esme's eyes and they transferred their full attention over to Emmett. "Now, for many years Edward was bored with his existence, finding himself more annoyed with the humans around him than happy with them. That is until the day he met the new girl in town. This human girl, Bella, was different than all of the others, because by some miracle, her mind was completely silent to Edward. Not only that, but she already knew all about his kind and was not frightened by any of his family."

"I believe it was fate," whispered Esme.

"Pffft," Rosalie scoffed from the lounge on the other side of the room. She was irritated her husband was having such fun with a human around, let alone any of it being what Esme classified as _'__fate__'_.

Emmett, knowing his wife's feelings, did the only thing he could do – he pretended he didn't hear her and continued with his story. "Luckily, on the first day of school, our young damsel had a fairy vampire godmother, who saw what her scent would do to Edward, and stopped him before anything could happen."

I looked over at Alice, and gave her a slight nod in thanks. She just grinned back at me, having too much fun to do anything else in that moment.

Jasper seemed to be having just as much fun with the story as his wife and was manipulating everyone's emotions to go along with the tone of Emmett's story. What had been light-hearted feelings of happiness instantly switched to feelings of unease at the danger presented that first day. He must have felt my irritation with him, because he looked over and shrugged. _W__hat?__I__'__m__having__fun._

I just rolled my eyes; I knew at this point I would have no chance to be able to stop Emmett's story, so I clenched my fist and just waited for it to be over.

"Events occurred, which caused a miscommunication between Bella and our young Edward, to make her believe he hates her. Edward was desperate to make things right between them, so he called her closest confidant to find out what he could …" Alice, already excited, let out a little squeal of excitement, clueing in my family that the climax of the story was about to take place.

"As Edward and his most trusted companions arrived at her home, he handed Bella a bouquet of her favorite flowers when their fingers brushed oh so lightly." Emmett paused, hoping to gain the rest of our family's interest.

Needless to say, he was not left disappointed. "What happened?" Esme asked, looking at me worriedly.

"FIRST SPARK!" Alice squealed, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

"Yeah right," Rosalie scoffed. "That's absurd." She turned her contemptuous gaze towards me and asked, "Why on earth would you ever feel a first spark for that worthless human?"

I growled, angered by her constant disregard for _my_ Bella. "Did you, or did you not feel a first spark when you touched Emmett for the first time?"

"That was different," Rosalie said smugly, remembering how Emmett had been near death at the time.

"The fact that Emmett was about to be finished off by the bear does not make it different. What would have happened if you had met Emmett in another way? Do you honestly think you would have been able to just ignore the spark you felt?"

"Yes!" She shouted.

"HA! " Alice laughed out loud. "Rosalie, that's a load of crap and you know it. You of all people would have done whatever it took to have what you wanted. Don't even think of pretending you would have ignored it."

Before she could say anything else, Carlisle cut in. "Rosalie, much like Edward did for you when you brought Emmett to us, you will show Edward the same kind of respect. He has finally found his mate, and our family will support him in any capacity he needs."

Rosalie just huffed and turned her head towards the television. _Idiot_, she mentally berated me.

I knew it was pointless to keep arguing with Rosalie; her stubbornness would drive a saint insane.

Esme came and hugged me with a ferocity I hadn't expected. "I'm so very happy for you," she whispered. "Did Bella realize what had happened?"

"She felt the jolt," Alice explained. "But I think she passed it off as static electricity. It didn't seem like she understood what it meant … at least, I don't think she did."

"What do you plan on doing?" Jasper asked. I knew regardless of my feelings, Alice was his priority and he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. He knew Alice felt a connection to Bella, and he knew the more Bella was around the happier it made his wife, which meant he found himself starting to feel a sense of protectiveness towards Bella, too.

"Right now, I plan on getting to know her the best I can, and hopefully she will begin to understand what it was she felt when we touched," I explained. "I think the Biology Project will help out."

After explaining the Biology Project to them, I asked, "Do you think I should tell Thomas what happened with Bella?"

"He would probably want to know," Carlisle speculated. "It would be the right thing to do; even if Bella is unaware of it."

I resolved myself, knowing he was. Wanting some semblance of privacy I made my way up to my room. While pulling out my phone I wondered how exactly I as supposed to tell a vampire that his Great-Great Granddaughter was your mate? Would he be accepting? Would he be outraged? Would he demand I stay away from her for her own protection? My thoughts were interrupted when he answered.

"Hello."

"Thomas, its Edward Cullen."

"Oh! Hi," he said, sounding both surprised and hesitant at the same time. "I hope you're not calling to tell me that you upset Bella again?"

I could hear distrust in his voice and fully accepted the fact that I deserved it. I just hope he would give me the chance to make things right. "Actually, things went well this evening with Bella. I apologized and gave her some gerbera daisies just like you suggested. Then while she ate her supper, she told me about our assignment at school."

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad things seem better, but I'll warn you again not to hurt her."

I once again felt myself rightfully abashed for my treatment of Bella, and promised to never treat her like that again. "I won't, I promise."

"Good, because she's all I have left in this world and I want her to be happy." And I could hear his devotion to her in his voice. I wasn't sure how he was going to react when I told him.

"As do I…" I trailed off, trying to get the right words in my head. "I wanted to talk to you about something that happened while I was at Bella's this evening."

"Alright, but since you already said things went okay, what exactly do you need to talk to me about?" he asked, sounding curious.

"Our fingers brushed each others when I handed her the flowers and …" I trailed off, and found myself feeling uncharacteristically nervous about his reaction.

"And what?" he asked, probably confused or thinking I was daft.

"Have you ever heard of first spark?" I asked, hoping that he knew what it was.

For a long time, I just sat there waiting for a response. I figured he knew what it was, and was in shock at the thought of his Bella being mated to a vampire; it probably wasn't what he had ever hoped for her.

"Are you telling me – you're telling me, you and Bella?" he asked, and I could hear the shock in his voice.

"Yes."

"Does Bella understand what happened this evening?"

"I don't think so – she passed it off as static electricity," I explained.

"Do you intend on telling her?"

"Not at this point." I was selfish, but at the same time I didn't want to force her in any way.

"What are you planning, then?" he asked, and in all honesty, as Bella's family, he had a right to know my intentions.

"I just want to spend time with her right now; like a friend. I want us to get to know each other better, so that she can come to her own conclusions about me."

"Knowing Bella the way I do, you're probably right. It would be good to let her get there on her own." I was relieved to hear that he wasn't discouraging my involvement in her life. After a moment he continued, "You should know, it may take her a while to come to a decision, she is somebody that will think about something from every possible angle before she makes her choice, but once she does she will stick to it till the very end."

"Thank you for telling me," I said.

"But you need to understand something, Edward. If she decides that she doesn't want to pursue that kind of relationship with you, you can't try to force it."

"You have my word that I will never try and force her in a relationship; even if she only wants friendship," I promised.

"Good."

**(Bella's POV)**

After Edward, Alice and Emmett left I realized how exhausted I was, so I made my way back upstairs feeling physically drained from the week's events.

Due to the amount of sleep I had gotten, I found myself awake before the crack of dawn. Knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, I made my way downstairs hoping to catch Charlie before he left for the day. When I got to the kitchen, I was glad to see that he hadn't finished his breakfast quite yet.

"Morning, Dad."

Charlie jumped a little when he heard me, and looked up with a surprised look on his face. "Hey Bells, are you feeling okay? You must have really needed some sleep last night."

"Yeah, I'm doing okay … I guess you could say the long week got the better of me."

He frowned at me for a minute. "Are things going bad at school?"

"No, it's just a bit of a culture shock compared to the school in Arizona. Being a new student here brings a lot more attention than a new student would receive down there."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that." Charlie and I were a lot alike, and he probably knew how much I detested being the center of attention.

I made my way over to the counter so that I could make myself some toast. "I got assigned a special project at school yesterday that requires me to try and get a full family tree and medical history for both sides of the family. Thomas already agreed to send me information that belonged to Gran so I can take care of mom's side of the family, but I need information for the Swan side, too."

"What kind of information do you need exactly?" he asked.

"Do you have any old photo albums or maybe something that would lay out some form of the family tree?" I asked. I hoped it wouldn't be too difficult to get this.

"I think I can help you out with that … I have my parent's old photo albums, but they're up in the attic and I don't want you to attempt getting up there with your injured ankle. Do you mind waiting until I get home from work tonight?" he asked.

"That's fine."

After a couple more minutes, Charlie seemed to remember something. "I almost forgot … we do have a family tree already finished."

"We do?" I asked, surprised.

"Your grandmother was obsessed with it. She wanted to make sure we would know exactly where we came from. She believed you couldn't make an informed decision about something unless you knew exactly where you came from. She wanted to make sure that you had all the necessary information at your fingertips, if you ever wanted to see it."

"Is that up in the attic, too?" I asked, curious to whether or not I could get my hands on it immediately.

"Actually, it's on the bookshelf along with her old family bible." He got up from the table and went out to the living room. When he came back a few minutes later, he carried a wooden box. He opened the box and pulled out an old bible. "This is the old family bible, there is part of a family tree inside the front, but it didn't have enough room for what your grandmother wanted," he chuckled; probably at a memory of Gran.

Next, he pulled out something that looked like an expensive leather bound book and opened it. "I always teased my mom about how she went to extremes with her little pet project, but now that you have this assignment, I'm kind of glad she did all of this. She worked with a genealogist to get a full family tree for both her and my dad's sides of the family." He opened it, and I was amazed at all of the detailed information available. I could see that Grandma Swan had gone above and beyond when it came right down to it. She not only had names, dates, and marriages, but she also had information about where they lived, what kind of jobs they had, and how they died.

He flipped a page, and I noticed the name of my great grandfather and was taken aback by his first name.

My dad fingered the middle name. "Gran always felt bad that she never had the chance to meet her own father. He went missing during a hunting trip and was presumed dead by the rangers and law enforcement. Her mother didn't even know she was pregnant until a couple weeks later." he trailed off.

I followed my dad's gaze back down to the book and studied the name again. "I didn't know you had the same middle name as your grandfather," I said.

"Yes. Just like your middle name came from your great grandma on your mother's side." He lightly touched his grandfather's name once more. "Your Grandpa Swan, my dad, was a man's man; and according to him, the only name of my grandfather's that was manly enough for his son was his middle name." He shook his head at something. "Your grandpa was a bit strange when it came to things like that. In my opinion, a name is just that, a name, and it in no way determines what kind of a person you will be; that's solely up to the person to accomplish."

I couldn't help but laugh at my grandfather's little idiosyncrasy. When I thought about it, my dad was right, a name doesn't make a person, man or woman, who they are. After a couple of minutes, I looked up and noticed the time. "I'm going to make you late for work, Dad. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Bells. I get a few perks being the chief of police, but I am covering for someone this morning, so I should probably go." He took his plate over to the sink. "Did you have any plans for today?"

"Not at the moment. I'm kind of limited to where I can go with my ankle. I'll probably just stay home and get started on my project," I explained.

"Well, if you do go out for any reason, could you leave a note on the kitchen table letting me know what your plans are?"

Charlie had become more protective of me since my mom's death, but when I thought about it, I had to admit that it was to be expected. He was still dealing with his own loss of my mom, and I didn't want to cause him any additional stress. "Of course I will."

Charlie came over to me before he left and placed a small kiss on the top of my head – something else that had changed since my mom's death; Charlie made a point of being more affectionate to me. It was nice.

After I finished a small breakfast of toast and orange juice, I cleaned up the table so that I wouldn't get anything on my grandmother's things. It was very obvious that the bible was old, but the leather bound book looked newer; like maybe it had been completed in the last decade or so.

I don't know how long I had been at it, but I quickly found myself absorbed in all of the information I had in front of me. I copied some of the information down into my notebook, not wanting to let anything happen to the book.

I was so intrigued that I almost didn't hear the telephone ring. "Hello."

"Hi Bella," Alice's clear voice rang out.

"Oh, hi Alice. How are you?"

"I'm good," she answered quickly. "I'm calling to see what your plans were for today."

"Nothing really, I was just planning on staying around the house. Even if I wanted to get out of the house today, it's not really possible with my ankle. I don't really have the ability to just jump in my truck and take off someplace when I can't press down on the clutch."

She laughed. "Well then, it's a good thing that I'm calling. Would you like to come over to our house today?"

That sounded like fun. It would be fun to see everyone again, but what I really hoped for was the chance to see Edward again. I must have taken too long to answer her, because Alice interrupted my thoughts.

"Um, Bella, are you there? Did you hear me?"

"Sorry … my mind wandered for a minute. I would love to come over to your house today."

"Can you be ready in around an hour?" she asked, but without even giving me the ability to answer for myself, she was answering for me. "Yep, you can. One of us will be over in an hour to pick you up." And she hung up.

It was going to take me a little while to get used to Alice, but I really did enjoy spending time with her. That is as long as she stayed away from my clothes.

I made my way upstairs and proceeded to get ready. When I realized my dirty clothes well outnumbered the clean, I made a mental note to do some laundry when I got home. I had just finished a note to Charlie, letting him know where I was going, when there was a knock at the door. By the time I made it to the entry-way, the door was being opened by a very hyper Alice.

"Are you that impatient for me that you can't wait an extra minute for me to answer my own front door?" I pretended to be a little miffed at her, but she didn't buy my act for a single moment.

"Hush, you." She looked around the house. "Are you ready to go?"

"I just need another minute." I placed the notebook I had used for taking notes earlier into my backpack; just in case Edward was at the house and he wanted to get started on our assignment. "Okay, now I'm ready."

When we got outside, I noticed that Alice had driven Edward's car. "Is it okay for me to be in Edward's car?" I asked, still not a hundred percent sure he was quite ready for that type of invasion of my scent.

"Actually, he suggested it. The more places he's exposed to your scent, the easier it will continue to be for him."

"Did you need another one of my shirts to give to him? If you need me to, I could go upstairs and get the t-shirt I slept in."

"Not necessary, I grabbed one while you put your things in your backpack" she replied, while waving one of my t-shirts in the air. It was times like that that I found myself amazed at just how fast they all were.

"Anyway, it will only be you, Esme and I at the house – for a little while at least," she mentioned, while she started driving us in the direction of their home.

"Oh. Where is everyone else?" I asked.

"Carlisle's working until around two, but he should be home when he's done. The boys are out hunting, and Rosalie is being antisocial and decided to drive to Portland to get some special tires to put on Emmett's Jeep."

"Are you absolutely sure everyone's okay with me coming over today?" I asked, not wanting to cause them any troubles.

"Stop worrying about us, Bella. We will be fine."

The first part of the day was fun, we talked, watched movies and bickered back and forth; Alice wanted to do spa treatments, but I wasn't interested. I knew that if I gave an inch with that, she'd believe I was ready for her to try and makeover my clothing too … and that just wasn't the case.

Esme laughed at Alice when she tried to pout and it had no effect on me. Unfortunately for Alice, I had grown somewhat immune to a protruding lip over the years. My mom had been prone to using the lip when she wanted me to get involved with her latest hobby. When I was younger, I went along with it for the most part, but when I got a little older I put my foot down … sometimes. At one point, my mom had started dating a guy who was an avid bow hunter, and wanting to be supportive of him, she thought she would take up the sport as well. She tried for a couple weeks to talk me into taking archery classes, but I decided to put my foot down with the mere thought of me being in control of a potentially lethal weapon that depended on strength, balance and accuracy. With my luck, the arrow would probably have taken a ninety-degree turn, killing an innocent bystander.

I had been there for a couple of hours when Carlisle and the boys got home. Carlisle, being the kind doctor, checked my ankle and was happy with how it seemed to be healing. "I'd give it a couple more days, and then you could probably start putting some weight down on it again," he told me as he wrapped my ankle, replacing the brace I had been using for the past week.

"Thank you, Carlisle."

"You're welcome." He smiled at me, before making his way up to his office to put his doctor's bag away.

"How about playing a video game with me, Bella?" Emmett asked.

I looked at him and then over at his game system. "I don't know, Emmett, I'm not very good at video games."

"Oh come on, I'll go easy on you," he begged, but when I saw Jasper shake his head, I knew that Emmett would not take it easy on me.

I bit my lip, and tried to decide if I wanted to deal with another pouting Cullen. "I don't know."

He dropped down in front of me, onto his knees, clasping his hands together and started to beg. "Please, Bella. PLLLEEEAAAAASSSSEEE!"

I looked around and noticed Edward watching me with a smirk on his face. With one look, I felt my heart start to pound and my blush creep onto my cheeks. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn he knew exactly what I was thinking in that moment.

In an attempt to keep my focus on a begging Emmett, and not Edward's beautiful face, I looked back down at him. I let out a long breath I had been holding and in a resigned voice said, "Fine."

"YAY!" Emmett almost squealed in his excitement. He picked me up and started spinning me at a speed that was much, much too fast.

"Emmett Dale McCarty Cullen, you put her down, this instant!" I heard Esme say in a stern voice, but as soon as I heard the voice I gasped. Not at the tone, but at the name she had just called out.

It was like an instantaneous reaction. I'm not sure if it was a combination of the effects of being spun in circles and the shock of hearing Emmett's full name, but I found myself dizzy and very light headed. I couldn't seem to draw in enough air, and I struggled to get my head, heart and brain from racing at speeds I just couldn't keep up with.

I don't know how long it actually took before I was cognizant of my surroundings, but eventually my breaths began to get deeper and the room didn't seem to spin anymore. I was able to understand that my name was being called, and by the way it sounded, it was more than one person doing so.

Finally I understood a voice enough to hear someone say, "She should be able to speak in another minute."

Once again I felt somebody's fingers run through my hair. I moved my lips a couple of times, and tried to say something. Eventually, after another minute I whispered, "Esme?"

"Yes, dear, I'm right here."

"How are you feeling, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Okay, I guess."

"Can you tell me what just happened?" he asked.

"Um … well … I don't know. I got startled."

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I should never have spun you around like that," Emmett apologized.

"It wasn't the spinning," I began and looked at him, and mean really looked at him. I wanted to find something similar in his features, in my crazed attempts to wrap my brain around what I had heard Esme say earlier. I recognized the dark curls and remembered the dimples I had seen earlier when he laughed. I sat myself up from the couch and Emmett sat next to me immediately.

I heard a quiet growl and was surprised to look over and see a scowl on Edward's face. Had he been the one to growl? I had difficulty figuring out why he would have reacted that way, but when I remembered that Emmett was married to Rosalie, I started to wonder. Edward thinks of them both as his brother and sister; he probably thought from the way I had been staring at Emmett that I maybe had feelings for Emmett. I knew that wasn't the case, because it was the one who growled that caused the butterflies in my stomach, not Emmett.

"Sorry … What was I saying?" I shook my head and thought back to what we had been talking about and remembered Emmett's apology. "I don't think it was just the spinning that caused my reaction."

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked.

I looked over at Esme and then back at Emmett. "Did I hear Esme correctly? Your middle name is Dale?"

His eyebrows drew together, probably at the odd question. "Yeah."

"What about McCarty? Was that your last name?"

He looked over at Carlisle who had a curious look on his face, before he answered. "Yeah, McCarty's my real last name. Why?"

I disregarded his question and asked, "So the name you were given by your parents when you were born was, Emmett Dale McCarty?"

"Yes." He seemed to be getting impatient. "What's the big deal? Why did you hyperventilate over my name?"

I thought of my grandfather and his reasoning behind not allowing the name Emmett to be anywhere attached to my dad's name because it wasn't manly enough, and looked over at Emmett. I burst into laughter, unable to contain the absurdity of my grandfather's belief that Emmett was not a manly enough name. I looked around to notice a look of concern on everyone's face; I'm sure they all thought I had just passed into a state of insanity and they didn't know how they were going to handle me.

After a minute I turned to Emmett. "Sorry, I was just laughing at something I remembered my dad saying earlier."

"Huh?"

"Never mind … I'm sorry, my mind just keeps jumping around and I remembered something my dad told me earlier." I looked down so that I could avoid the weird looks I had started to receive. "Emmett, do you remember much of your human life?" I asked him.

"Some," he answered.

"Okay." I thought about what I remembered from earlier. "I'm going to tell you some things, and I would like you to tell me if any of it sounds accurate. Okay?" I asked.

Emmett looked around the room. He probably hoped to be saved from the crazy girl, who sat next to him on the couch, but apparently he didn't get the relief he was looking for. Finally he looked back at me. "Alright. I think I can do that."

I looked at Edward and saw a worried look on his face, but even though he looked worried the look in his eyes calmed me. I drew in a deep breath and began. "Your parent's names were John and Pamela McCarty, you were born January 15, 1915 in … rats, I don't remember the town … but if I'm right, you were born in Tennessee."

He nodded. "That's correct, but how do you know this? Are you able to see someone's past?" he asked.

"No." I laughed. "That's Thomas's gift, not mine." I looked into his eyes and continued. "You had four siblings – two brothers and two sisters. You loved being out in nature, you loved it so much you became a park ranger like your father."

"I did?" He seemed surprised. "I can remember wanting to become a park ranger when I was a kid, but I don't remember actually doing it."

I nodded. I didn't want to shock him, especially if he had no memory of actually becoming a park ranger, he may not remember other things. "On April 5, 1935, you went missing from the woods while hunting." I noticed that he breathed in deeply, as if he needed to try and make sense of how I knew that. "When the rangers and law enforcement went searching for you, all they found was evidence of an animal attack. After a few weeks, you were presumed dead."

He just stared at me for the longest time. I didn't know whether or not to laugh or cry. Finally, he said, "I was attacked by a bear, Rosie found me before the bear could kill me. She carried me back to Carlisle to be changed." He touched my cheek, like if he did he'd find out what was going on. "But how do you know this?"

The front door opened and everyone else in the room looked nervous. I wasn't sure why, until I saw Rosalie enter the living room. As soon as she saw me I could tell that she was mad. "What is she still doing here?" she spat.

"Rosalie, stop," Carlisle said. "Bella is here by our invitation."

She sent a withered glare over at Alice before she turned to Emmett and noticed how close he and I were sitting. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's okay Rose, Bella was just telling me some facts she somehow knows about me," Emmett explained, but that had been the wrong thing to say, because Rosalie growled.

"How would you know anything about him? He's nothing to you, do you hear me?" she yelled, and that was when I realized that she was jealous of my motives towards her husband.

"If you will give me one minute, I can explain – or rather I can show you what I have." I took a deep breath to steady myself and looked over at Alice. "Alice, do know where my backpack is?" I wanted to show them the notes I had copied down earlier. With the added stress of Rosalie in the room, I knew I wouldn't be able to say the rest out loud.

When Alice handed me my backpack, I pulled out the notebook and turned it to the first page. I stood up, but before I could attempt to take a step away from the couch, I felt Edward put his arm around my waist. I felt warmth where his hand touched instead of the typical cold, and I couldn't help but smile when I looked up into his face.

He smiled back at me and proceeded to help me move a few steps away from the couch. With his help, I turned so that I was facing Rosalie. "Please, sit next to Emmett; I want you both to read this." She glared, but the important thing was that she did sit down. Taking one final deep breath, I handed them the notebook and told them, "Read."

Emmett took the notebook out of my grasp and placed a quick kiss onto Rosalie's cheek; the action seemed to sooth her. "Let's do some reading, babe." They both looked down at the notebook and started to read. It was only seconds later when I heard the collective gasp of three people – Emmett, Rosalie and Edward. I knew they had just read what I had found out earlier today.

"What? What is it?" Alice asked, eager to know what was in my notebook.

Finally, Emmett looked up at me. "I was married?" I saw Rosalie go glassy-eyed before she looked at Emmett and then at me. I didn't understand the look she gave me, but it didn't seem as hostile as it had been.

"Yes," I whispered.

He took Rosalie's hand for support and looked at Carlisle then back at me. "And shortly after my disappearance, my wife, Sarah, found out she was pregnant with my child?"

Esme and Alice both gasped, and I answered, "Yes."

I could see that Emmett's eyes were glassy-eyed like his wife's. "I had a daughter?" When I nodded he continued. "Her name was Helen Emma McCarty, and she married a man named Geoffrey Franklin Swan?"

"Yes. He's my grandfather." After I said the words, I found that a weight I hadn't been aware of from earlier had been lifted off my shoulders.

"That means…" Jasper began while he looked back and forth between Emmett and me before he finally asked, "Bella, are you saying that Emmett is your Great Grandfather?"

"I think so," I said, and pointed to the notebook. "I copied that information this morning from the family tree my dad showed me. I wanted to copy the information down so that I didn't risk damaging it while I worked on my Biology Project."

When I looked at Emmett and Rosalie, they both looked lost, and I suddenly felt bad for telling them. "I'm sorry, Emmett … Rosalie. If I knew how upset this would make you, I wouldn't have said anything."

He jumped at my words and quickly pulled me away from Edward, placing me into his lap. He proceeded to wrap one arm around my midsection while his other arm went lovingly around his wife. "No, I'm not upset. I'm in shock and I'm confused." He looked at Rose, and it was like they shared a silent conversation with each other. "I feel guilty that I don't remember getting married. If I had, Rose and I could have kept an eye on them; you know - made sure they were okay." He touched my cheek and pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"You'll…" I trailed off when I saw Rose. "I mean you both will need to come over and take a look at the family tree. My gran … um, your daughter put together a very detailed account of everyone listed in the book, and my dad said that he would go up into the attic and get the old photo albums, so there will be pictures too."

Rose looked sad, and I found that I had a need to see if there was something I could do to make her feel better. "Are you okay, Rose? I'm sorry if this upset you. I didn't show you both this to make you sad…I guess I just got caught up in the excitement over what I had just found."

"I just feel bad that a young girl had to face a pregnancy by herself, without her husband."

I shook my head. "I think things worked out the way they were supposed to. If it hadn't happened the way it did, you two would never have met your true soul mates. Never regret that."

I saw Rosalie give a strange look at Edward before she added, "But, I'm sure Sarah was devastated."

"Maybe for a little while, but if you look at the next page she eventually found love again."

They turned the page and read it. "She remarried and had a son?" Emmett asked.

"But her son died at the age of two?" Rose said.

"Yeah, he contracted an awful case of polio. My gran wrote a very detailed account for that time period, since she had been seventeen at the time, but I had to stop part way through. It was just too sad to continue."

We just sat there for a few minutes, and I noticed Emmett rubbing Rosalie's back. Finally, he looked at me and whispered, "I understand now."

"Understand what?" I asked, confused.

"Ever since we moved to Forks, I've felt some kind of connection to your dad, and then when you arrived, I felt the same thing with you."

"The connection probably has to do with the fact they're a blood relation," Edward commented.

Carlisle looked at Alice. "I wonder if that's what your connection to Bella is."

"What?" I asked, surprised by Carlisle's comment.

Alice looked at me, and for a moment, I would have sworn she looked scared. "I feel the same kind of connection with you that Emmett feels."

"Really? Do you also feel this way around my dad?" I asked.

"No. I don't feel anything like this when I'm near your dad, but…" she trailed off for a moment. I noticed Jasper come to her and wrap her in his arms to comfort. "I did feel something a lot like this from the vision I had of your mom."

My mom? She felt the connection with my mom, but what does that mean? I tried to think back to somebody on my mom's side that could be the link to Alice.

Alice… Why does that name sound so familiar? I felt like the answer was at the tip of my brain, but I just couldn't get the correct answer to form.

Alice…Alice…Alice! My fingers started tapping to the timing that my mind was working, as if it would help break through to the answers, and that was when it happened.

Wait a minute, my eyes shot up to look at Alice. I studied her features and wanted to hit myself when I noticed the similarities … but was it possible?

I had to stop and think for a moment. I could be way off base, and I definitely didn't want to be responsible for hurting anybody if I had it all wrong.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Edward asked. "Your heart's racing."

"Yeah … I'm fine … I'm … I guess you could say – I'm trying to figure out the connection."

"And you think you may have the answer?" Carlisle asked. When I nodded, he asked me another question. "Could you elaborate?"

"Maybe…" I shook my head. "I don't know, Carlisle. I think I know what the connection is, but I'm going to need some help to confirm it."

"What can we do to help?" Esme asked.

"Actually, I need to call in reinforcements." I picked up my cell phone and hoped for the best.

"Hi, Bella." I heard Thomas's happy voice come over the other line.

"Hi, Thomas, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up? Is something wrong?"

"No … nothing's wrong. I just have a really big favor to ask."

"Okay," he said slowly, probably wondering what was going on. "What did you need?"

"How quickly could you get to Forks?" I asked.

"Did something happen? Are you in danger?" he asked quickly.

"I'm not in danger, I just need you to come up and help me try and confirm something. I'd wait if I could, but this is a bit of a delicate subject, and I think the fastest it can be worked out, the better off we'll all be." I tried to explain.

"Do I get to have any kind of clue as to the subject of this mystery you need confirmed?" he asked, intrigued.

"Um… Well… I don't know if it's a good idea to tell you over the phone. I don't want to upset you." I looked around and noticed I had the rapt attention of everyone in the room.

"Bella, please … you're sounding a bit like your mother at the moment, and that's not like you." I felt myself smile at that. He was right; I didn't typically take after my mom.

"Okay, I will give you one word, but after I tell you this word, I don't want to hear another question about it until you get up here. Got it?" I asked.

I heard him sigh in exasperation, which caused a few quiet chuckles from the people in the room. "Yes. I promise I will not ask a single question until I get to Forks."

I looked up at Alice and gave the one clue word I knew would cause him to drop everything and make his way to me. "Alice."

I heard a gasp on the other line and noticed the raised eyebrows of Edward and Jasper. "Bella, what are you playing at? Why are you using that as your clue?"

"Pops, please calm down. I told you I would explain everything when you get up here, but the mystery revolves around the clue word, or more accurately the clue name, Alice."

It wasn't even a minute later, when I heard, "I'm leaving within the hour, and I'll call when I get close."

I sighed, "Thank you."

"I love you, Bella. I don't know what you're up to, but I'll see you shortly." And he hung up.

When I finally looked back up, I started to explain. "I don't want to make you all angry, but I don't think it's my place to say any more on the matter, at least until Thomas gets here. It's his story to tell and he should know without a shadow of doubt whether or not you're who I think you are." When her eyes got big, I asked, "Are you going to be okay with that?"

"I think I have to be," she said in a tone that told me she wasn't overly happy at the situation.

"I'm sorry, Alice." I looked at Jasper, who was holding his wife, and felt bad. "I don't want to get anybody's hopes up … your's or Thomas's. It's a difficult story, and not one I'm comfortable talking about without Thomas here. Can you be patient enough to wait until tomorrow to hear it?" I asked.

Alice sighed. "I understand, Bella, truly I do, but it doesn't make it any easier." She turned her face up to Jasper and he placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I will wait until tomorrow."

* * *

Thank you for reading!


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